The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Song
by Aaron The Wise '91
Summary: This is the story of a young boy and his newfound friends, as they embark on an incredible journey to freedom in Sword Art Online. Join Kirito, Asuna, Sachi, Mataras, and Akira as they travel in SAO to freedom. I don't own Sword Art Online.
1. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online. Another character I don't own is Mataras The Red Swordsman. This character belongs to Mataras The Author. The other two OC's are my own.)

 **Prologue**

Their was a time several years into the future, when the gaming industry reaches a new peak. The world of Virtual Reality has reached an all time, and the official release of the first VRMMO (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online) game ever known. The date is November 6, 2022, one man is responsible for this new video game, his name is Akihiko Kayaba. The world is Aincrad, and the game is called Sword Art Online. Here is a story of a person who entered this world and his life was never the same. The was was nice and lines were gathering to gain this new game, it even made the news.

 **Chapter 1 The Dive**

A young boy around the age age of seventeen runs home after making a very particular purchase, a copy of the game Sword Art Online, and the NerveGear. He was a young, very energetic boy, and his name was Aaron. He had pale skin, blue eyes like the night, and whore a blue long sleeved T-shirt, and blue pants, complete with white socks and black sneakers. Aaron had just got into his home, and had something to eat before he got himself to do some game time. He had just finished his snack when a women entered the room, It was Lauren, Aaron's mother, with short brown hair pale skin, brown eyes, wearing a white shirt with orange sleeves, blue jeans, and brown shoes. "Hey, Mom! Welcome Back!" Aaron called as he went to meet her. "Hi sweetie, you got the game?" she replied. Aaron nodded and had everything set up so she can watch while he was in the game. Now that the whole thing was set, it was time for his adventure to begin, but this would be something he wouldn't forget, for if he only knew. Aaron was laying down flat on his back on his couch as he looked at his clock in his vizier. The clock went straight to 13:00 or 1:00 pm in the states, "Good luck, and have fun." his mother said wishing him luck, Aaron nodded and said the immortal words. "Here goes. LINK START!"

Soon, lines of colors and light shot past him and his senses were check for the okay and he dived into Sword Art Online. As soon as he entered the realm, he heard a friendly female voice. " Welcome to Sword Art Online. Please enter an avatar name and gender." Aaron had been thinking of a name to go with and finally decided to go with the name, Akira, then entered his gender being a male. The voice appeared again and asked him to choose a weapon for his play style, Aaron went with a fighting style of using a one-handed longsword. He was then asked to create his avatar's look, so he designed his avatar Akira, to be somewhat similar to Kite from the series .hack. Akira was designed to have short light blue hair, and his outfit mainly composed a sky blue shirt, brown chest armor, grey pants grey boots, grey fingerless gloves, pale skin, and the same eye color he had IRL. "We hope you enjoy your new adventure in Sword Art Online, have fun." the female spoke one last time, as Aaron 'fell' to the land below and materialized from Aaron into Akira. As soon as Akira opened his eyes in the Town of Beginnings, he was in awe struck. "Wow. This place is so cool." Akira proclaimed as he headed off to where his adventures were about to begin. He wondered around town and soon found himself from his wonderings out on the fields, and battling monsters, mainly comprised of Boars, Wolves, and Bees not much but it would do, he was quickly working up EXP, and made up a few levels. Eventually, the sun was beginning to set on the Horizon, seeing this Akira decided it was time to log out. He waved his right hand down to access the main menu and headed to the options menu, and noticed something. "Hey." Akira spoke, "Where's the log out button? It just disappeared." Soon he heard the sound of bells, and a blue light engulfed him transporting him back to the Town of Beginnings in the coliseum.

Akira soon found himself in the coliseum located in the middle of The Town of Beginnings, only with hundreds of players as well, all wondering the same thing, what is going on. That all changed when a small hexagon appeared with word written inside, saying Warning, then more appeared as they completely covered the sky, and glowed red. Everyone wondered what it was, when one player with long red hair said with a smirk at one player, " I do believe it's called a _hexagon_." Soon something red and liquid like poured through the lines of the hexagon covered sky, and formed into the shape of a giant hooded cloaked man as it loomed over the players. "Attention players!" spoked the figure in a deep monotone voice "I welcome you to my world," all the players were confused on what it meant by that along with Akira, _"What does he mean by that?"_ The hooded figure then spoke once more, "My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment _I_ am in control of this world." _"If that doesn't sound ominous then I don't know what is."_ Akira said to himself. "As some of you may have noticed, their is an item missing from your main menus, the log out button." The figure then opened a giant menus and revealed that it still wasn't there, as it spoke once more. "I assure you this not a defect," Their was a pause in between before it resumed, " _I repeat, this is not a defect._ This is how Sword Art Online is meant to be. You cannot log out of SAO; and no one from the outside can remove your NerveGear from your head. If this does happen the NerveGear will discharge a powerful microwave signal to your brain, and end your life."

Now Akira was really surprised at this, and fell to his knees, his mother was waiting for him outside and he was trapped inside of the game. "No, Kayaba kidnapped us. But why…?" Akira muttered to himself as he saw several screens appear one of them showing mother crying. The figure claiming to be Kayaba then revealed that 213 players have already died from failing to heed the warning as several more screens show news reports on the TV and the web. "It is important to know that from now on, if you HP hits 0, then they cannot be revived, their avatar will be deleted from the system, and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain!" Akira then feared the worst and realized one thing, one fatal mistake and it's game over. Kayaba then revealed the one way to escape and that was to beat the game. He then told the players that if they find the floors and the bosses, and defeating each one will allow them access to the new area, if they could defat the boss at the top of the castle, SAO will be cleared. This caused the crowd to get angry, "Why should we listen to you?!" one yelled. Another wailed "All one hundred floors, that's impossible, not even the _beta testers_ made it that far." Kayaba, however, simply ignored and and continued to speak, "Lastly, I placed a little present inside of everyone's item inventory. Please… have a look." He sounded to amused by all this with that part. Akira then accessed his menu and saw a mirror item, and used it. One player wondered what they were for, and so did Akira to only to see flashes of light around the players and even himself as their appearances changed. When it had ended Akira, looked down into it and saw himself as Aaron and not as his avatar Akira. "Right now your all probably wondering why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the man who created Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, would do such a thing?" Akira however, wasn't interested as he saw many players about ready to cry or yell at the top of their lungs, and he really didn't blame them. He then made one last stare at Kayaba as it lagged and faded into a cloud of red smoke.

Everyone was infuriated, many ran out to head for the next town, others shouted and ran. Akira however, didn't do any of that, instead he just sighed, and sadly walked of the coliseum, and headed out the gate and thought about all that happened. "I can't believe that all of us are stuck here now." Akira said to himself. "Mom, If your watching me, I hope to return home as soon as I can. I'll miss you, and think of you while I can. I also promise that I won't die in this death game." Akira walked out and headed for the next town on his map, alone.

 **And with that, the first chapter is done. I appreciate any constructive criticism, it'll help for my writing.**

 **Lauren: Sweetie, what is this?**

 **Akira: It's an Omake, so now we can talk to the readers.**

 **Lauren: Makes, some first day huh?**

 **Akira: Yeah. I don't understand this Kayaba. Who does he think he is?**

 **?: A man who believes he's a God. Let's see how mighty he is at the end of my sword.**

 **Akira: Who are you?**

 **?: You'll find out.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman The Lost Fragment. Chapter 2: Illfang and the Beaters!**

 **All: LINK START!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A fellow author and friend of mine, Mataras the Author has given me my first review for this series which I very appreciate for. This chapter will go through the first floor boss, introducing a group of inseparable friends, and a particular chestnut girl. This chapter will also introduce a character that wasn't in Sword Art Online:**

 **Mataras the Red Swordsman is an original character created by Mataras the Author for a book series called The Omega Chronicles in the first part Dragon's Roar. He has also appeared as the main character in two other stories featuring him:**

 _The Red Swordsman: Toa of Aincrad_

 _The Red Swordsman: Slayer of Aincrad_

 **If you want to friend him or PM the author check out the two stories I mentioned above. I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman, they belong to their respective owners. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2 Illfang and the Beaters**

He felt alone more than ever here.

Akira was in the back of a boss raid meeting thinking what happened. It had been 2 months after Kayaba's announcement and the deaths of 213 people, 2000 more were added as their names appeared on The Monument of Life on Floor 1.

He soon saw loners joining into parties while he just sat in the back. That is, until he saw three people in the back that would eventually become his best friends. One of them was about to leave when he went over. "If you please, could you stay, and cheer up." He said, and walked over to them seeing two of them were wearing cloaks. One of the three was wearing a black cloak and had a strong build of a male but couldn't see his face, and a single sword called a Fakora strapped to his back.

The second boy had black short and messy hair, pale skin, and grey eyes. He wore a blue shirt with a brown armor vest on, with brownish pants and matching fingerless gloves, and black shoes. The sword he had on his back was the Anneal Blade, a sword for awarding a person completing a certain quest. Akira tried to get it but was unable to do it because they were done. Akira himself actually did a quest get a new and got himself a better sword for his leveling on, a Serpent Katana. The boy reminded him of himself especially with his messy short blonde hair.

The third and final person had tell tale appearance of a female, he couldn't see the face, not even her weapon because of the red cloak she was wearing.

The boy came into contact with Akira, and shook hands, before asking, "Hey, would you like to join up with us in a party."

"Sure. I might as well, we'll need all the teammates we can get for this boss." responded Akira as a message appeared on his vision, 'Kirito would like you to join his party. Do you accept?' Akira instantly hit the yes button as three more health bars appeared beneath his name, revealing the three as Kirito, Mataras, and Asuna.

"So you go by the name Akira, eh? You'd be Japanese then?" asked Mataras

"No actually. Even though my name is Japanese, I'm an American, and living in Japan." Akira replied

"So your like me then, an American who lives here in Japan." The black cloaked player said.

"So your name is Mataras, huh? Spanish for 'You kill', interesting name for a game like this." remarked Akira

"Wow, how did you you know that?" asked the black cloaked player

"I learn some spanish from my Mom before I eventually came here." he replied

"I'm not a player killer. No need to worry about that." Mataras said Akira nodded and look at the other two names.

"Kirito and Asuna, It's pleasure to meet you both." he said as the two bowed with in response to his kind nature. The group then sat down together and sighed.

"Hey, I was wondering, would you remove the hoods of your cloaks? If were going to be working together, I'd like what you look like before we head out." Akira asked as to get to know his allies. Asuna didn't feeling nervous, while Mataras did so revealing a pale face around the age of 16. He had long straight black hair, that partially covered his left eye. His eyes were a very dark brown almost closer to being black.

Asuna then stood up and left leaving the boys confused as they shrugged and headed out to grind their levels.

The three males soon found working together very effective.

Akira was a balanced warrior, but had a good amount of speed to give him an edge on the enemy.

Kirito was fast but more on the heavier attacks, using his momentum to assist in his swings at the opponent.

Mataras was a mixture of Akira's speed, and Kirito's strength.

The trio also took time to analyze each other while they leveled up. Kirito was seen to be warm and friendly but, he tend to stay away from the lower leveled players, but it wasn't because of superiority, but from isolation. He was known to be Anti-Social, even before than, plus he was one of the Beta Testers for the game, so he also knew they weren't a lot of negative attention. So he didn't want to make a big scene out of it.

Mataras was friendly to his teammates, but to everyone else he gave only a cold stare or a negative comment, only like he was filled with some kind of anger.

Akira was seen as a kind , and respective person, and willing to help out others if their was anything wrong. He even saved Kirito's life and Mataras' as well. This action made him an instant ally to Mataras.

It was getting late, when they went and sold their spoils after grinding up some levels. Then they saw Asuna, in the dark alleyways, away from the others.

Akira sighed at this. "She stole my spot." chuckled Mataras

"What, your gonna kick her off it." Kirito asked him, grinning.

"Wait. Let me talk to her, see if she'll let us join her." Akira suggested as he walked up and sat down next to her. Asuna instantly scooted over away to give him some space.

"Hello Asuna," he started as he heard Diabel and Kibaou laughing in the background. "Why are sitting here all by yourself? You know you don't have to hide from everyone." said Akira.

"I'm not hiding, more like staying true to myself." Asuna replied, "I don't plan on staying in the Town of Beginnings and rot away. I just want to stay me until this death game is finally over. Even if it means I have to die. That way, I can beat this Death Game before it begins." she stated.

"Asuna, not everything in this game is all that bad." Mataras said as he, and Kirito came up to join them and sat down and handed out loafs of bread for the three of them.

"What do you mean by that?!" shouted Asuna, "Everything in this game, about this world, it's evil. How can any good come from any of this?"

Akira turned towards her and replied, "Because look at us, we're four complete strangers, and yet here we are trying to bond." he chuckled, "Yes its true that this game is evil, and many people will die, but that gives us a reason to fight, so that no one else has to die." Akira turned to Asuna, and placed his hand on her shoulder, "We all have a destiny you know. This is just a job we have to do, clear the game." he said.

Asuna seemed to ponder at what he said, "So, basically, all we have to… is fight for those who can't and… try to become friends?" she asked and removed the hood of her cloak, revealing she has orange eye, pale skin and long chestnut hair.

Kirito replied, "That's right. Try not to think so negatively about this Game of Death." he then brought out his inventory and got another loaf of bread and handed it Asuna, who had her head bent to one side out of confusion. "Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything." he said as Asuna took the bread.

The group then shared some cream to spread on as they ate, Akira eyes widened a bit as Asuna wolfed down her food, and chuckled. The group then decided to turn in for the night, to prepare for the boss raid.

Akira was laying on his bed at the inn, staring up at the ceiling, his arms crossed, and he let out a sigh. "Mom… I don't really know if you can hear me, I sure hope so,… were heading out to take on the first floor boss tomorrow. This will be the toughest enemy we have to face, please have faith in me and my newest friends that we will have strength to take down this boss." he said to himself, and sighed once more as crawled onto the bed, tucked himself in and went to sleep.

The next morning, the raid party headed out to take on the boss, players that weren't participating cheered on as they watched them head out. Akira's party was the rearguard, their job was to keep the boss' sentinels in check, it turned out, however, Asuna didn't know how to work in a party, so the boys explained it to her during the trip up to the boss, Akira and Kirito explained the commands and tactics that a player uses in party.

The massive party soon appeared at a pair of massive doors, which lead to the boss room. Players were checking themselves as they prepared to fight, checking their menus for anything. Akira then prepared by equipping an item a blue cape with a very particular picture of a bird on the back. The group was wondering why he put on a cloak that fancy, and explained that he wanted to try and fit in with his party a bit, this made the group chuckled.

As the the raid party entered the boss room, Diabel lead the charge as the party entered for the battle, player by player, "Spread out, stay alert!" Akira called out.

"Over there!" one player cried out as they group soon saw a monstrous creature on a throne, soon sprung into action as it landed in front of the raid party. Akira could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the boss, it was basically a large red round kangaroo, with an axe and a buckler, he even saw a sword strapped to his back. The creature was none other than Illfang the Kobold Lord, as the creature landed and roared, it spawned Kobold Sentinel's to fight as well. The room soon lit up as the battle finally began.

Diabel soon cried out, "let's do this!" and Akira charged in to the first mob knocking the sentinel's blade to the side, "Switch, Kirito", cried Akira, as Kirito struck down the first mob.

Asuna soon engaged the second mob, as she sprinted at fast speeds to reach her, leaving Akira amazed. _She sure is fast. I've never such speed before._ thought Akira as Asuna defeated the second mob. This cleared a path for Mataras to fight the third mob.

When he got to the sentinel, he did a very strange move, Mataras ducked under the creature then struck upward at the Sentinels head, landing a critical blow and defeating the mob. This left his party members amazed at what happened, and realized they would have to ask him when it was done.

The party fought the boss, and the rep awning Sentinels for twenty minutes until the boss reached the red zone. Enraged, and as the guidebook said, Illfang tossed his axe and shield aside and drew his sword. What the players didn't noticed except for Kirito, was that the sword wasn't a Talwar, but a Nodachi. Diabel soon stepped up to face the boss, preparing to use a sword skill, but Kirito tried to warn him, only to have someone else beat him to it. Akira saw what was coming, jumped in and pushed Diabel to safety, just as Illfang landed on the ground and struck, but he got hit into the yellow, while Akira went into the orange in his HP.

Kirito ran over to them, "What were you thinking!?" he mutters, as he handed out health potions to Akira and Diabel. Akira gulped his down before heading back into battle, "You were after the last attack bonus weren't you?" Kirito asked behind Akira as fought against a sentinel and used the skill, 'Tsujikaze' striking the creature in two.

"Kirito!" cried a player as Illfang leaped towards them the trio to strike, only to be blocked by Agil. "You can't get distracted guys. On your feet Ya'll!" he cried out.

Akira nodded as he and Kirito got up, "Like the Minions!" he cried out as Mataras ran over to them, as they made a charge towards the boss.

Mataras then asked, "Who blocks?" as the trio heads to Illfang.

"Me!" replied Kirito as he blocked the Nodachi reaching in towards the boss. Akira took over and struck multiple times at the creatures stomach. Mataras then struck at the creatures chest.

The duo then ducked under the boss as it counter attacked, and then dropped back, Kirito then leaped towards the boss and activated the sword skill 'Vorpal Strike' at the boss striking it right through the middle in the form of a V, taking the last of the boss' HP down to zero, and causing it to explode into polygons.

Everyone cheered as a giant Congratulations appeared indicating the boss was cleared. Kirito then noticed he got the last attack bonus when someone shouted, "Stop Cheering!" Everyone turned to see Kibaou, who had a grudge with the beta testers, thinking this was all their fault. "Why did you let them die?" asked the spiky hair man.

"Let them die?" Kirito asked

"What on earth are you talking about you fool?" asked Mataras in a low voice that carried around the group.

"Them! You knew the attack patterns, and even the the sword! So why didn't you tell us?! Kibaou shouted

"I wasn't even in the beta test! So how should I know?" defended Akira.

I was." Kirito spoked and chuckled a little menacingly towards Kibaou, ignoring the other players as he continued to speak. "During the beta, Illfang used those weapons in the guide book, I should've know the bosses were changed up." Akira stared in shock as Kirito stared to grin evilly, as he explained that got to higher floors with more bosses around, and studied the attack patterns, weapons, and skills that the enemy used. He then started to brag that he knew a lot of other things as well, more than any info-broker.

"Then, if that's true, then your worse than an beta tester, you're a goddamn cheater!" Kibaou shouting in rage. Others joined in calling him a cheater, then a hacker, and finally…

"He's a Beta Tester and a Cheater. He's a Beater!" cried one player.

Kirito chuckled a bit dark as he spoke while accessing his menu, "A beater, yeah I like it," he smirked "You can call me a beater, just don't mistake with those other beta tester noobs, it's not cool." He soon equipped the item he got, the Cloak of Midnight. Akira was in awe at the new outfit, "Nice coat." he whispered.

"So you think your better than us, you son of a-" the whining man was stopped by a sword literally at his throat, Kibaou then look up into the eyes of Mataras.

Mataras then gave a valuable lesson in the Law of The Sword, which made Akira value him even more.

The group then heard the sound of hands clapping, and turned to Akira applauding Mataras, "Well said, Mataras. Now come on, let's catch up with Kirito." he said as the two went over to Kirito. Akira then saw Diabel, unsure of what to do. He then saw the two staring at him, unsure of himself, when Mataras smiled a t Akira giving him the ok."You don't have to be on your own anymore, Diabel. Come with us." Said Akira as the three boys and, Asuna went up to join him.

"Asuna, I'm sorry, but this is where we part ways for now," Kirito said, then turned to the three men, "Are you guys sure you want to do this?"

"What?" asked the group.

"If you guys join me, you'll be pegged as beaters. Asuna you can still claim innocence and join a guild, and gain more respect than with me." said Kirito.

"Kirito, we're not letting you go by yourself, we'll take the title with you." spoke Diabel

"He's right, everyone hates me for they I did, and Akira supported me." Said Mataras

"Alright, thanks guys, now let's get moving. It'll be great having you guys watching my back." Kirito said

"You said it." replied Akira as the group then headed into the next floor without saying another word.

 **Lauren: So now it's down to you four boys, Kirito, Diabel, Mataras, and Akira.**

 **Kirito: We are the four swordsman that stand out from the rest.**

 **Diabel: I feel honored that you saved my life out their.**

 **Mataras: Thanks for letting me join you.**

 **Akira: Your welcome everyone. And next time we meet a very particular guild.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 3 Sachi and The Moonlit Black Cats.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara, and Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author.**

 **Chapter 3 Sachi and The Moonlit Black Cats**

"Heres to us; The Moonlit Black Cats! And to the four men that saved our lives!" a player with yellow hair called, as he lifted his cup, "Kirito, Diabel, Mataras, and Akira!" His teammates are composed of three boys, and one girl, all took a toast, while Akira smiled at their enthusiasm, Kirito, and Mataras both shifted unconfortaly. The two weren't used to the attention.

Who could blame them really, the four swordsmen saved this guild of five from being killed after some grinding earlier that day. The five brought the group to the inn that they stayed at on Floor eleven called, Taft. The leader of the group was named, Keita, and decided to thank the four for rescuing them by buying dinner for them tonight. This lead to where they were now, being praised by people they just met, and having dinner at the inn, with said group.

"Thank you, everyone." said Diabel as he smiled. He seemed fine with the attention, but Akira knew that he was as nervous as Kirito, and Mataras.

"The way that you all saved us… I really thought we were going to die out there…" The only girl of the guild, turn to wipe away a tear from her cheek before she turned to face them. She was a shy looking young lady, her name was Sachi, Keita then leaned in to ask the group something.

"Umm,… I don't know if this is right for me to ask this question but what level are you guys at? he asked. When Akira was about to tell the truth of their levels being level 40.

"Level 20…" muttered Kirito, as this shocked Akira, and Diabel, while Mataras nearly spat out his drink, causing to start coughing.

Keita didn't seem to notice their reactions as he continued, "Wow, your that level? You guys are just about the same as us then! And its just been the four of you?" he asked.

"Keita, levels don't matter at the moment, we're just people talking, and meeting, games with leveling systems are difficult because you don't talk to people that are a similar level to you, I should know, I've experienced that stuff in other MMO's." said Akira.

Keita then rubbed his head, and said, "Hey, I was wondering… see, Tetsuo here is the only guy we can have on the front lines of our guild right now, I was thinking about having Sachi here switch from the spear to the sword and shield, so she can join him." his hand patting Sachi's head.

"Well, that would be a mistake," spoke Mataras, everyone soon glanced at him, while Sachi gave a look at him showing that her pride was hurt, "Not the part of her being on the front lines, more with her using a shield, they'll slow you down, and can get in the way. Look at Akira, Kirito, and myself." he said as he opened up his access menu to the inventory, and manifested a sword he had gotten earlier today, and gave it to Sachi, which she accepted.

"We would be honored if the four of you would join our guild." concluded Keita

Akira, and the others turned to Kirito, they elected leader of their group, he seemed to be to weighed with the options, and so was Mataras, in fact all of them were trying to decide.

"I'll join, as long as I team up with Sachi." said Mataras, and needless to say, this was a huge shock to Kirito, he figured that a swordsman like him, who dressed in red, wouldn't hang out with players that were lower level than him, so, hearing that was interested in joining the guild was a big surprise for him.

"I'll join too, I believe we'll make great team mates." said Diabel. This wasn't much of a surprise, Diabel was known to help out other players that were at a lower level, just like Akira. Even he decided to join, much to Kirito's shock. He decided to to talk to the guys outside for a bit, and excused themselves saying they'll be right back.

When the group was out of earshock, Kirito was, in a way, not to happy with Mataras' choice of joining the guild. "What do you think you're doing?!" he asked in a panicked rage. "I thought you said that you don't like being around people in this game!"

"I should ask you the same thing, lying to them about our levels." Mataras said dryly, with Diabel nodding in agreement.

"So care to explain that Kirito." spoke up Akira.

"Well, I figured if they found out our real levels, they probably peg us as Beaters and not want us around anymore." Kirito explained even with a sigh, he really wasn't sure about this.

"What about you, Mataras? Why are interested in joining?" Akira asked, now Mataras knew he had to come clean on this one.

"Fine," Mataras said with a heavy sigh. "I normally don't hang around incompetent people, but these guys are different. They seem more determined to be better people. As for Sachi, she reminds me of someone I knew, someone I failed to protect long ago." The others saw that was getting upset about the subject, and decided to not ask anymore.

"Look, we're all nervous, Kirito." said Akira, "I'm nervous to, but hanging with these guys, just might help to not be so lonely anymore. Their having a good time, we should do the same." Diabel nodded in agreement as they waited to hear from the other two.

Kirito, and Mataras had known Akira to be a voice of reason, but never have seen him more honest than ever with this suggestion, pleasing them.

"Alright, then." Kirito finally said with a sigh, "You win, I've been outvoted. Let's join them." This decision was definite approval for the group as they headed back to the inn.

Akira smiled at the group as he gave the reply, "We're in, all of us."

"Alright!" cried Keita, as the group cheers in joy at the welcome of their newest members.

The next morning, Akira heard the HUD as he awoke, and equipped himself in his current outfit, an azure coat, with a light blue shirt, with deep dark blue pants, and armed with a one-handed longsword, the blade was called, Thunder Saber. He placed the blade on his back in a horizontal position, the blade was made to balance all three specks for the user. The blade was also well balanced, and he liked it.

He soon received a message from Mataras saying that he was training her to use a sword on floor 7 today. Akira couldn't help but smile at the girl's bravery, while Kirito, Diabel, and himself went with the boys to grind on the fields.

Sachi really surprised everyone with how she quickly managed her sword a lot better than her spear, and the guild gradually grew in level, the original five were soon reach the beaters, and Akira, who was currently at level 39.

The group even snuck off a bit to join the assault team for the floor 27's boss raid, even caught up on their own training regime, and not pick off their status.

The four would occasionally run into Asuna, who would treat them with a smile, but also a frosty attitude.

The group also ran into a friend of Kirito's, who he met on the day of the launch, named Klein, who formed a guild called Furinkazan.

One evening, Akira was on his way back to the inn, when he received a message from Keita, ' _Akira, Sachi has run off, and we can't find her. We need your help. Please let me know if you find her. Keita_ ' just as Akira started to enable his tracker mode, another message appeared. ' _Akira, I got this, you go on back the Inn. See you in a bit. Mataras_ ' Akira only smiled at this message sent from his friend, Mataras. _Seems fair enough, those two were really getting close, almost like their siblings_ , he thought.

Akira was sitting at his window in his room later that evening, and looked up at the stars, "Mom, it's been a while since I mentioned these, I hope your listening." he sighed, "Today, my friends and I have joined a small guild called the Moonlit Black Cats. The group is led by a young man named Keita, he has a really big ambition, he dreams that his guild will be their when it's all over, and we can all go home."

He paused, "Their are other members as well, there names are Tesuo, Ducker, Sasamaru, and Sachi. They're really nice people, in fact, they remind of all the times we were together at times before I got trapped here." he grinned, "I hope that they all make it, Mataras and Sachi seemed to have formed a bond as if they were siblings IRL. I miss you, and hope to see you soon.

The next morning, the guild members squeezed into a small room for a private conference, "Listen up everyone, after all all our hard grinding, we now have more than 200,000 col in the guild reserves." Keita said, and the group cheered at the news.

"Hey, we can get a house with that amount, what do you think?" said Ducker.

"Or we can upgrade Sachi's equipment." added Sasamaru

Keita was weighing on the choices, it seemed both options were good, "What do you think, Sachi?", he asked.

Sachi shook her head as she replied, "I'm fine with what I've got."

"And what about you four, which idea do you wanna go with?" asked Tetsuo. He saw Akira sitting on a wall.

"I'm good for a house, it's better than paying rent here at the inn." said Akira, as Diabel, and Kirito nodded in agreement.

"I'm good with a house, as long as it's not on Floor one. I don't wanna deal with those Army guys that run the floor down their." suggested Mataras.

"Alrighty then, I'll set out in a bit to do some house shopping." Keita grinned, as he smiled with his guild mates.

The guild went out to the plaza, and Keita stepped onto the warp gate, "I'm off everyone. Take care!" He said to his guild mates as he stepped onto the transport gate. "Teleport! Yoza!" and soon vanished in a blue glow toward his destination.

"I seriously can't believe we're getting a house of our own!" grinned Sasamaru

Ducker smirked at him, and chuckled, "Careful buddy, your starting to sound like an old man already!"

"Hey listen, I have an idea. While Keita is out looking for a house, why don't we save up more col for some additional things?" suggested Tetsuo.

Sachi seemed to like the idea, "Yeah, then we can get furniture for the house!" she smiled

"Let's head up to floor 27, what do you say?" Ducker asked with an enthusiastic smirk.

"Wait a minute, guys. That doesn't sound like a good idea to head up there. Don't you think we should should stick with our usual hunting grounds?" said Akira, he seemed really nervous about the location.

Kirito seemed to nod his head in agreement, "Yeah, I've read on the papers that the floor is really dangerous, and filled with nasty traps that can spring up if your not careful." he said.

Diabel nodded, "That's right, I've read about it to, and the assault team had just started to deem the place safe for players to go hunting there." he said worried.

"Relax, we'll be just fine!" smirked Sasamaru, as he stepped up to the warp gate. "Besides, we've been working to get ourselves stronger to eventually be on the front lines, plus we get a lot more col, and level up a lot easier." he said.

The four swordsman knew that the floor wasn't something to deal with, even at their level, floor 27 was recently opened up, and still considered dangerous, sadly, Diabel sighed and sadly gave in, "All right, we'll go, but I want all of us to pair up into groups, safety in numbers. And whatever you do, don't separate from your partner, no matter what." he said.

Ducker only rolled his as they warped out saying, "Okay mom, whatever you say."

It turned out to the beaters surprise, the Black Cats actually did very well against the monsters on Floor 27. The group wandered deeper, and deeper into the dungeon, Mataras, and Diabel were in the back, The Cats in the middle, and Akira, and Kirito in the front.

It was around 4:00 pm when Kirito called the group to a halt, "I think that'll do for today, let's head back and return the Inn. I'm sure Keita has found a house for all of us to at by now." he said.

However, Ducker had surprised everyone with a skill of his in treasure hunting, he found a false wall which lead into an empty room with a treasure chest in the middle.

"Hang on, Ducker, that could be a trap." said Akira, but unfortunately, to his horror, Ducker had opened the chest.

"You IDIOT!" roared Mataras, as he and the others immediately charged in. The words made things much worse, as an alarm went off and the room went red, the chest vanished and the door was sealing up, and to if things couldn't get any worse than that Dwarf-like monsters, and Golems appeared all around the room.

"Everyone! Use your Teleport Crystals!" shouted Kirito as they the petrified group snapped out of it.

Ducker grabbed his first, and shouted "Teleport! Taft!" but the gem wasn't responding, he tried again, but the result was the same.

Akira soon realized what happened, and cried, "It's a trap!"

"Why didn't any of you listen to Akira?" growled Mataras as he drew his sword, along with the others, his anger was at Ducker "You do realize that you just sent us all to our deaths at _record speed_!"

"Nah, these guys don't look so tough!" Tetsuo then charged in and swung his at one of the golems, but the creature was still alive and struck back hitting Tetsuo into the ground as the Dwrves used their pick axes to stab Tetsuo constantly, over and over again, as Tetsuo shouted in pain, until he death. His scream would haunt Akira in his nightmares for as long as he lived.

Ducker to avenge his friend, even when Diabel tried to stop him, "No! Don't separate from each other!" Too late, Ducker was hit in the back, and then clobbered in the front by a golem. Sasamaru was the last boy to be killed by the golems as his HP dropped to zero.

Mataras, and Kirito bursted out in a rage, seeing the death of their friends caused them to go into the monsters, separating from the group.

Diavel, and Akira stayed near Sachi, watching from three directions, however, Sachi was shaking in fear, and who could blame her? After seeing seeing her real life computer club members get torn to shreds like that, her resolve was cracking. This made her fail to notice a golem coming up behind her as, Akira and Diabel, were separated from Sachi from the monsters swarming around the the two.

" _Sachi!_ " Kirito yelled, but he was too far away, he'd never reach her in time, and the golems and dwarves kept getting in his way.

Sachi noticed at that moment as the golem raised its arm, but they were not alone that day, Mataras noticed too, and did the thing he could do to save her, he took his sword and threw it into a spinning bladed wheel, and sliced of the golems arm right off. seeing the sword on the wall, gave her enough courage and strength, to strike back at the with a sword skill, and turn the creature into pixels. Seeing this improved her resolve as she started to fight off her opponents. Akira, an Diabel made back to Sachi, and Mataras rushed over, making sure not to get hit, and got his sword. The four then went over to Kirito, as they fought their way through the monsters.

When the doors to the dungeons finally opened, the group walked out and instantly made for the exit, afterwards when they were out, they slumped down at the side of the entrance, completely exhausted. Mataras, handed out potions to the group as their health was in the red zone. They hoped to get some time to recover, but it happened, as soon as they settled down. Just then a message appeared from Keita, revealing he got them a house, and wondered what happened to Tetsuo, Ducker, and Sasamaru. "I'll tell Keita.", said Mataras.

"I'll go with you." Diabel replied, literally leaning on the pillar.

"Thanks", was all Kirito could say, and Akira only nodded.

"Thanks for saving me." Sachi said as they got back on their feet.

"Why thank us," Kirito said, it's our fault your friends are gone. If we had told you the truth from the beginning…"

"I know how strong you guys really are." Sachi interrupted, leaving the group stunned.

"You knew," asked Mataras, "How did you know?"

Sachi blushed in embarrassment as she replied, "I snack a peek at Mataras' status while he was accessing his menu the other night after he found under the bridge. I'm sorry." she smiled as she continued, "I'm pretty sure you had your reasons for hiding your levels."

Mataras smiled, "I'm sure your familiar with the term, "Beater" the one used for the former beta-testers." he asked

She nodded as Kirito spoke up, "I'm the first official Beater, to take the name. These three were kind of wrapped up in it." he said.

"We didn't tell because we felt you wouldn't want us around anymore." Diabel added

"It's alright. You did all that you could, we should've listened to you. So don't blame yourselves for what happened." Sachi replied trying to cheer them up. This left the four stunned, she understood them, and forgave them. No one didn't see Mataras hide his eyes, keeping tears from coming out.

The group then headed to the Teleport gate and headed to Keita's location. "Teleport, Yoza." said Akira.

"You're Beaters?" asked Keita, about ready to get explode in rage.

"We're really sorry we didn't tell you the truth, Keita. We were worried that you wouldn't want us around if you knew the truth." Akira said as he had his head bowed

"You killed them! The moment that you joined our guild, you sealed their deaths!" Keita yelled as he ran off.

He rushed up onto the railing, overlooking the skies of Aincrad, and started to climb up. "Wait! No! Stop! Don't do it!" Kirito cried out. Sachi tried to grab Keita's foot, but had just missed him as he fell into the clouds and disappeared from view. A moment later, they soon saw polygons floating away into the sky. Sachi broke down in tears, as Mataras comforted her, the four looked down mourning what had happened. They had killed them.

The group sat down in a room in one of Taft's inn that night, "Sachi, I'm so sorry for what happened." Akira said, apologizing to Sachi.

She smiled weakly, "It's not your fault, it's Kayaba whose at fault here. He trapped us here in the first place." Sachi responded.

"Agreed, and I promise you this, I'll make sure that he pays for what he's down, and cut him to ribbons." Mataras said as he hold her hands closely.

"We all want a piece of him too, Mat." Kirito nodded, he had a glum loo on his face.

"And we won't stop until Kayaba pays for his crimes." Diabel finished, as he looked out to the window.

 **Lauren: Hey sweetie, promise me that you'll stop Kayaba.**

 **Akira: You can count on it.**

 **Kirito: Now were down to only five members again.**

 **Sachi: We should rebuild the guild, but only selective choice, we can't go around randomly.**

 **Kirito: Agreed, I don't want any complete strangers joining, it'll feel weird.**

 **Lauren: Well you guys felt uncomfortable when you guys first joined.**

 **Mataras: Got to have a point there.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 4 Silica, and the Siblings-In-Arms.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chpater 4: Silica, and the Siblings-In-Arms**

Akira was scratching his head, for recently, The Moonlit Black Cats received a tip-off about an orange guild that was operating in these areas, on floor 35. They were currently in a field dungeon called, The Forest of Wanderings.

The group of five decided to split up into three groups, Akira with Diabel, Mataras with Sachi, and Kirito would go solo.

The three teams were careful in this location, it wasn't called the Forest of Wanderings for nothing, a lot of players without a map, players literally got lost in this place until a rescue party came. The monsters, however, were really annoying the most of them being, Drunken Apes, a large ape that always carried a bottle of booze that helped to restore its own health.

It was getting dark when Akira, and Diabel heard shrieks. Without any hesitation the two raced off towards the location of the noise.

"Pina!" a voice cried out, this caused Akira to speed up in ways he never had before just to reach the scene. When he arrived, he analyzed the scene.

A young girl was on her knees, with her dagger laying in the dirt off to her left, and she was surrounded by three drunken apes, something that got really Akira annoyed. Soon, his partner showed up, and the group defeated all three monsters.

Kirito barreled through the trees and joined up with Akira, and Diabel from the north. Mataras, and Sachi emerged from the west, and the later went to get the girl's dagger.

The young girl looked up from the ground to see her rescuers, and she was surprised to see what she saw.

The first of them was a young girl with dark hair, not much older than herself. She wielded a single silver blade, she wore for equipment, dark blue armor with some silver themes here and there. Her eyes were blue, and filled with sadness.

The second was a boy, with blue eyes, and light blue hair, wielding a calvary sword and shield, he also wore blue and silver themed armor, but his was a lighter shade than the girl. His face showed radiance and kindness.

The third was a boy with grey eyes, and black hair, dressed in a black trench coat over a yellow shirt, and blue shoulder pads. His sword was silver, with a blue cross guard and had the symbol of the moon across the middle of it. His face was blank, devoid of any emotion.

The fourth boy of the group was different from the other two. His stance, in fact, his every movement seemed to be fueled by some kind of… anger. His eyes were dark brown, but in the night they almost seemed to be completely black, and filled with rage. His shirt, pants, and hair were jet black, like the third boy, but his fell past his ears, and partially covered his left eye a little bit, and he wore a red and black coat. His sword was similar to the third boy, except his guard on his blade was red, and in the middle was a symbol of the sun. He didn't scream hero material to the young girl.

The fifth boy, seemed to be the kindest of the group, his blonde hair was like the other two boys in red and black, but his was more well treated and brushed. His eyes were blue, and showed as the clear night sky, he was wearing an azure blue colored version of the second boy's coat, with a black shirt, and ocean blue shoulder pads. His sword was styled like a katana but straight out as a long sword.

The player with the katana sheathed his sword, doing so like he was returning his blade from being sharpened, and walked over to her and crouched down to her eye level. "Are you ok?" he asked

She nodded, mutely, she was still, however, shocked about all that happened. "Here drink this." said the girl as she handed the girl's dagger, and a red vial to her.

She drank the potion, and the aches started washing away, as she began to feel better, _health._ The girl then started to cry once more, as for the reason she was in that problem came right back up in front. Her gaze went to to the feather, it was all that remained of her best friend.

The boy in the red coat walked over and knelt down too, noticing the object, "That feather… are you a beast tamer?" he asked.

The girl nodded, "It's Pina, she was my best friend, a healing dragon," she said, but she was shaky from the experience, as she wiped away her tears, "I'm sorry, I'm being a bit rude. My name is Silica. Who are you guys?" she asked.

"My name's Kirito." said the boy in black

"Call me Diabel." said the boy in mild blue

"I'm Sachi." the girl said

"I am Mataras." the boy in red said in his casual salute

"And my name is Akira… I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner, I've could've saved your familiar." The boy in Azure said, bowing his head in sadness.

Mataras then picked up the feather, and gave it to Silica. "That feather is your familiar's heart. You'll need to keep it if you plan to revive her."

This statement left Silica confused, "Revive her, what do you mean?" As she thought of what Mataras said, she could've sworn she heard a screech, but it was deeper.

Looking up, she saw a red scaled dragon, a little bit larger than Pina perching on Mataras's shoulder. Akira saw this and patted his affectionately, this caused the dragon to warble happily. "This is my fire dragon familiar. His name is Litrosh." Akira said introducing the dragon to Silica.

Silica was in awe as she saw the creature. They were rare in Aincrad, and Mataras managed not to meet one, but to tame creature as well. But, then her mind went back to the topic at hand. "How do I revive Pina?"

"Allow me to explain." replied Akira, "On the south side of floor 47, there is a field dungeon called, The Hill of Memories, their is a flower which has the power to revive familiar's only downside is that you have 3 days to revive her."

Kirito nodded in agreement, "All you need to do is pay for us to go get it, but the flower will only spawn if the familiar's master is their."

Silica had soon, had a spark of hope, but it was dwindling with the info. "Floor 47, huh?" she said sadly.

Akira smiled and put his hand her shoulder, "Don't worry, you have three days. You'll get their, because we're going to help you out." Kirito, Mataras, and Akira then accessed their menu's and started sending items to her for trade. "Here. These items should help increase your level by four to five stats, if we work together, it'll be done in no time." he said with a smile.

Silica eyes were widened when she saw what they were trading her, the stats on each one would push her to s are stage for her to stay alive for ten whole ten floors! She looked at them and interacted in the trade menu, "Um, I know this isn't enough col to pay you back but…" she was soon stopped by Akira who had his hand up.

"No it's alright, we don't need any col. We actually have some business up on the floor anyway." he told her

Silica looked up at their faces, "But… why would you do this for me?" the younger girl asked

Akira saw the look on her face, it literally read in his mind, 'Is he gonna rob me?', he chuckled and replied, "Well, Mataras here really, _really_ likes dragons, same for me, but I guess I'm helping you is because it feels like out my own family back home IRL."

Kirito sighed as he responded, "And as for me, it's because you look like my little sister."

Silica paused for a moment, wondering if she heard that right, and then she giggled, "I'm sorry…" she smiled, and retrieved her dagger from Sachi, and stood back up. Together, they got out of the Forest of Wanderings, and returned back to the safe zone.

The group of six returned to the main town of floor 35, and headed towards a nearby inn. During the trip, Silica asked Mataras how he managed to tame a rare dragon like Litrosh. The dragon really seemed to take a liking to Silica. This made her more determined than ever to revive Pina.

"Well, if it isn't Silica!" rang out a voice, drawing the attention of the Moonlit Black Cats, "You mad it out of the Forest of Wanderings in one piece, but what happened to your little friend? The blue lizard?" a woman spoke out, she had fiery red hair and wore an outfit that was left for the imagination to wonder for a bit, she was also carrying a long spear with a black handle.

"Pina died trying to save me," Silica replied, sadly, "but… I'm gonna get her back." she added, with a look of confidence

Akira then stepped up and asked, "Pardon me for asking, but, do you two know each other?"

"Actually, Silica and I were in a party with a few others, that is up until this morning, we had an argument for items, and she ran off into the forest," the woman said, Akira had to admit, her acting was really good, it would almost fool an amateur, fortunately for the MBC, they _weren't_ amateurs. "I was so worried about her."

"Well if that's the case, why were we the ones to find and not her? All alone, and in danger?" Mataras asked, "Are you more afraid of the forest more than you are a little girl?" he asked her

"I don't know about that. In fact, I say she's a lot more afraid of the dark, if anything." Akira smirked, and he got a high five in response from Mataras.

The woman seemed to notice the insults, and was getting angry, "Listen her you little punks…" she was then tapped on her shoulder by one if her lackeys.

"Come on Rosalia, we have to go." he said, as he noticed, Diabel and Kirito reaching for their swords.

The woman gave up, and walked of in humph, Akira chuckled as the group headed off to their original course.

Akira stood at his window, and stared up to the virtual night sky, "Mom, Silica really looks like she was someone that could be like a part of our family, I feel like I can help her while I'm trapped her, since I can't help you right now." he said, "I hope your doing alright, life must be difficult for you right now. I miss you so much." he sighed

He stepped out of his room, and went over to talk to Silica, he spoke after knocking the door, "Silica? I was wondering if you wanted to know something about floor 47 before we head up tomorrow. Interested?" he said

"Oh sure, hold on a moment, and I'll get the door." he heard her replay, hearing her accessing he menu, then light footsteps coming to the door.

Kirito then walked up, "Can you keep watch out here?" Akira asked, he nodded silently, and headed down stairs, trying to act conspicuous.

He then heard the door open to reveal, Silica in a light green dress as she welcomed him.

Silica was on the bed as Akira moved the table and a chair over, then placing something on the table. This peaked her curiosity.

"What's that item, Akira? It's so pretty." Asked Silica, she was mesmerized with the glow it produced.

Akira chuckled as he replied, "It's a mirage sphere, really handy for mapping out routes during training regimes every now and again." Soon, the hologram showed the area, the group was planning on going tomorrow. "This is the town area of floor 47, and this is the hill of memories." He pointed out the two areas, and explained the planned route to get to the drop area.

He was about to say more when they heard a scuffling outside, he rushed to the door to see what it was, "WHO'S THERE?!" he demanded, barging out of the door to stick his head out, sword drawn. Mataras, and Diabel, however, have already cut off a shady looking player from escaping, Akira turned to the boy in red.

"We caught this moron, snooping around with his ear at the door, eavesdropping." he explained, this made Akira a bit upset.

"What were doing up here?" he asked

"I was told to eavesdrop on you guys from my boss, and they wanted me to report back to them on anything they find interesting." the Lackey said

"Well, it looks like it'll stay the way it is, but, your 'Boss' is getting a message." Akira said even though it felt like he was growling

The next morning, Akira told his guild mates to go on ahead onto floor 47, while he went and got Silica. "Silica! We need to get going, everyone has already heading out for floor 47!" he cried out at Silica's door.

He then heard a sudden yelp, with a thud, this made him wonder what was going on in their, when all of a sudden, the door flew open, with Silica in the doorway, and in the new gear she got from Akira, Kirito, and Mataras. She was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and skirt, with a bright red overcoat and breastplate armor.

Akira noticed, and glanced in the room behind her, "What was that crash I heard before in there?" he asked

Silica replied, but a bit nervously with a bright light blush on her cheeks, "Oh! You just made me jump thanks all."

Akira simply chucked as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Their is no need to be so nervous you know, just be yourself." he said

The two players soon reached the gate, as they headed to there location, "Teleport! Floria!" Akira called out

As soon as the duo appeared on floor 47, Silica looked around like she was in paradise, "Wow!" she called out in awe.

"I know right? This area is all covered in flowers, even the monsters are plant based, so everyone here calls this place, the flower garden." Akira explained. Silica ran over to kneel down and smell the flowers even see a ladybug fly off one of the flowers.

Akira soon saw Silica gazing at the rest of the plaza, spotting couples in the area, and he didn't blame them, in fact, Akira thought if he were to find someone special, he definitely bring them here or to floor 22 for a date. He walked over and tapped Silica on her shoulder.

"Silica?" he asked her, which snapped her out of her gaze.

"Oh! Nothing!" she yelped, standing up, and dusting herself off.

The two met up with the rest of the guild, and together made a plan of action. Akira and Kirito, would escort Silica to the drop point and acquire the rare item, while the others stayed behind as the reserve.

Kirito then gave the girl a teleport crystal as the trio began to cross the stone bridge out of town, "If things get hairy in there, take this this crystal and get out." he ordered, and with no room for any arguments. Silica nodded, and put the crystal in her pouch.

The three walked on the pre-planned path that Akira showed them before, and stunned enemies along with Kirito, Silica finished them off, and got the majority of the EXP.

"Hey guys?" Silica started to ask until vines snuck up from behind her and grabbed ahold of her legs and lifted her into the air. She quickly grabbed her skirt, and held it tightly, and flinched at the sight of what was holding her in its grip.

She waved her dagger around, crying and shouting in a state of panic, "Help! Akira, Kirito save me! Don't look but save me!" She cried out. Akira and Kirito were trying to watch without getting her upset.

"That'll be… difficult," muttered Kirito. Akira only rolled his eyes, and shouted up to her, "You got this Silica! Just cut the tentacles, and then strike the head!" he called out.

Silica heard this, and did as he instructed, slicing of the tentacles, and then struck at the head of the monstrous plant. Striking down like a comet into the creatures weak point, as it bursted into fragments of polygons.

She landed safely on the ground, "Did you see anything?" she asked, extremely timidly.

Akira shook his head, "No, I didn't see anything." he replied.

"Not really." Kirito mumbled as he closed his point with his two index fingers.

Silica then tried to ask her question again, "Hey, I was wondering? What's your sister like, Kirito? How am I considered family to you, Akira?" she asked.

Kirito went first revealing that they were actually cousins, and that she took kendo for the both of them. Silica assured him, that she tried extra because she cared for him.

Silica then turned Akira, "What about you?" she asked.

Akira sighed knowing he would have to explain himself. "My dad works over seas in my home country in America. So, I don't get to see him a lot. My mom, helps out quite a bit. Now that I'm trapped in this game, I wonder, if I'll ever see them again." He continued his story revealing he's helping out his grandparents, while talking to them as much as possible. He felt a bit down after he finished.

Kirito, and Silica really felt sorry, for Akira, as they comforted him. "Must be really hard to bring up for you, huh? Don't worry, all of us are here to help out if you ever get stress with any thoughts about your family." Kirito said reassuring him.

Akira smiled at the two, knowing he had gotten some really great friends. "Thanks, I needed to hear that. Now, come on, we got an item to get." he said

His friends nodded in agreement, and continued to their location, "Their it is, The Hill of Memories." he said looking over the hill.

The trio headed straight over, while Silica quickly ran over to the pedestal, and saw what she was looking for, a flower bloomed out of the slab and glowed in a kind, warming light. "Go ahead, pick it up." smiled Kirito, as Silica eagerly plucked the flower, and added the item to her inventory.

"Why don't we wait and revive Pina in the safe zone. There's a lot of strong monsters here." Kirito advised

"Good idea, we wouldn't want her to die on us again." replied Akira

The three players were all laughing together as they headed back to town, and began crossing the bridge. Kirito then made a sudden motion for the group to stop. Akira opened his menu and worked up a message. "Whoever's hiding, come on out, right now." Kirito demanded.

A second passed, and dangerous red hair flowed out revealing no one other, than Rosalia. "If you saw through my hiding skill, your detection skill must be really high, swordsman." she said with a smile.

Akira pushed a button and then closed his menu, "Well, if it isn't the pretty woman from yesterday, please step out of the way, before someone gets hurt." he said , not in a very good mood.

"I could say the same thing about you guys, hand over the pneuma flower before you get hurt." she said, as she licked her lips, hungry for more money, and snapped her fingers once.

At that moment, at least eight people appeared from behind the trees, and the shrubs, all with an orange cursor, "Rosalia, the leader of the orange guild known as, 'Titan's Hand'." Akira spoke up, "Do you remember a few days ago, you attacked a guild called the 'Silver Flags', The leader survived, but four members died that day." he went on

"He went from the starting town, all the way to the front lines, desperately begging for someone, anyone, to avenge the death of his guild, which lead us to where we are now." Kirito finished

"Oh, the losers with no money, well, you should be worried about your welfare. Now hand over the Pneuma Flower!" snapped Rosalia

Silica looked really scared, "There are too many of them! We have to get out of here!" she said backing up, Akira put his hand on her shoulder

"Don't worry, we got this." He said smiling

Kirito agreed. The two swordsmen stepped forward, both of them reaching for their swords strapped to their backs. "Akira! Kirito!" Silica cried out.

"It's all right. We got this, right everyone?" Akira spoke up, in an answer to his question, three figures walked out of the safety of the town.

"Took you guys long enough. What, you were gonna steal the glory, again?" Mataras grinned as he came out, sword drawn in hand. Sachi, and Diabel both had their swords drawn as well.

"Hold on," Akira smirked at the group, and one lackey seemed to put the pieces together, "Four men, one girl, all one handed, one with a shield, one with a fire dragon. Holy crap!" one cried out.

"Rosalia! It's The Moonlit Black Cats! The Black Swordsman, The Silver Swordsman, The Red Swordsman, The Blue Swordsmaiden, and The Azure Swordsman!" Sounds like their nicknames caught on really quick.

"I guess we don't need to introduce ourselves at all." Akira said

"Don't just stand their! Kill them already! Take everything they own!" Rosalia shouted, she believed in her beauty, rather than using her head. The eight men rushed to only into the four men, and not the girls.

Silica cried out in horror as the men struck, but Akira and Kirito stood their grounds, Rosalia's men continued to slash at them with swords, daggers, axes, spears, and maces, Akira was paying attention to his HP gauge while all this was happening, as well as Rosalia.

The team dealt them a total of 403 points in damage, when instantly they went back to full health with +600 HP. Akira grinned, and explained to the whole group, friend and foe alike. Al of you were able to hit us with around 400 points of damage in ten seconds, that's basically the amount of all of you guys can hit us." Akira smirked

"The four of us are Level 78, while Sachi is Level 75, each almost equal at 14,500 HP each." Kirito added

"We also happen to have a battle healing skill that regenerates 600 HP every ten seconds. We'd be standing here all day, and you guys couldn't get anywhere." Mataras said as he bursted into laughter.

"Is that even possible?" asked one of the lackeys

"Yes It is." answered all four of the male MBC members.

"MMO's that use leveling systems like SAO make things unfair that way. Don't you forget that." said Kirito

"Our client spent nearly his entire fortune on this Corridor crystal. It's been set to Black Iron Castles Prison, which is where you guys are going!" said Mataras

"He's going to get his moneys worth." added Diabel

"Well I'm green, and if you hurt me, you'll go orange!" Rosalia said, as she raised her spear for battle, however, three blurs identified the sudden presence of three blades in a vice around her, realizing if she made a wrong move, she's dead.

"I'm called 'The Red Swordsman' for a reason, got it," Mataras said

"We would only stay out of sight until the orange curser wore off," Akira added

"So just try us." Kirito concluded

Rosalia, and her men dropped their weapons as Kirito used the crystal to open a portal. "Alright, hop on through." Diabel said

"And don't try anything funny on your way their." Sachi added.

The goons then headed into the portal, and Mataras grabbed Rosalia, and tossed her into the portal after them.

The guild of five, and Silica went to a room, back on floor 35, "I guess we should apologize for leading you around like that." said Sachi

Silica shook her head as she replied, "I wasn't worried, because I had Akira, and Kirito there to help support me, and the way you guys stood up to Rosalia, I wish I was as strong as you guys." she said

"There you go, cheering us up again. You'd probably do great providing support for morale you know, your optimism knows no bounds." Akira smiled at her.

"Hey, how about we meet in the real world when this is all over." Silica asked

"That sounds awesome, thanks Silica." Kirito nodded

"How about we revive Pina now?" Mataras asked, Silica agreed and accessed her menu to get the two items, Pina's Heart, and the Pneuma Flower. Holding the flower over the feather, they waited until a single drop fell onto the feather. A warm glow began to follow.

Silica gave a genuine grin for the first time after losing Pina, _When you get back Pina, I have a wonderful story to tell you, about the day,.. I got to have my very own big brothers and a sister!_ she smiled

And sure enough, when the light died down, a small blue feathered dragon, with two long tail feathers at the end appeared, waking up to see her friend, shrieking with and landing on her shoulder to rub her cheek, happily seeing her again.

Then an idea popped into Akira's head, "Hey Silica,.. I was wondering." Akira said

Silica and Pina turned to see him, "Yeah? what is it?" she asked

"Would you like to join us?" he asked, and their was silence in the air.

"Hey, that's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that before?" Kirito grinned

"Join you?" she asked, as Pina squeaked in confusion. Then it clicked as to what he meant, "As in… join The Moonlit Black Cats?" she asked completely surprised

Akira nodded, Silica paused, and with an approving squeak from her dragon, she smiled, leaping to give the boy in azure a hug, "Yes! I'll join the Moonlit Black Cats!" she laughed out loud in joy.

 **Lauren: That's so sweet of you to do that for her.**

 **Akira: Thanks! It's nice to help out a lot of people when you get the chance.**

 **Mataras: Hard to argue with that.**

 **Kirito: Now we have members, and two of them are dragon users. One can heal us up to boot.**

 **Silica: Oh stop it! It's embarrassing!**

 **Asuna: So when do I come back?**

 **Akira: Pretty soon actually.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment Chapter 5: Yolko, and the Safe Zone Murderer.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 5: Yolko, and the Safe Zone Murderer**

The mood in the area, was really grim, every member of the assault team, were attending a meeting, and it was not a very good setting. "Lure it to the village!" Asuna said as she slammed her hand in the middle of the rock where the map was. "That's how we beat it, we'll lure it to the village, and while its distracted with the NPC's, that's when _we_ strike."

Two pairs of eyes stared at the chestnut girl, "Now wait a second," protested Kirito, "We can't just go around killing of NPC's, that's…"

"What? You think that they're alive?" Asuna said coldly, interrupting the black swordsman, "Unlike any of us, with only one life, they can respawn. They're no different to rocks and trees." she told them

"Sorry, but if that's the plan, then were not interested." Akira scowled at the girl, he wasn't into Asuna's attitude at this moment.

"I'm in charge of this operation," Asuna pointed out, glaring at the two boys, "So you shall do as _I_ say, got it?"

But before could continue to argue, the entire raid party started to hear a loud snort followed by a burst of laughter that was carried around the cavern. "Excuse me miss _'Lightning Flash'_ , but your in charge of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Kirito is in charge of The Moonlit Black Cats. Besides, we're not helping out on this plan anyway because of two reasons, a huge flaw if you ask me." Mataras' voice spoke out of mock respect towards Asuna.

"One, Bosses can't leave the areas they guard. Even if it's a field boss, they can't leave a certain parameter that keeps them from roaming freely," he said

"Two, these areas are called safe zones for a reason after all." Akira finished

He could practically feel the anger coming from Asuna, who was about ready to blow out of rage, she knew that they were right, but she stop glaring lightning bolts at Mataras, and Akira could literally see them flashing at each other.

"Alright, I say we get in one more week for grinding our levels, so that way, we can be ready to take on that boss." Klein announced, and Akira nodded in agreement, the leader of the six man samurai guild, Furinkazan, was well respected for being on the front lines, but, for some reason, he didn't seem to get a lot of positive attention from the guild known as, The Holy Dragon Alliance. "As stated before, we'll meet back here in one week to compare notes. Any arguments?" he shot a look at both the Cats and Asuna while he spoke up with his idea.

The raid party filtered out of the caverns, including the MBC. As they're leaving, the three members of the beater group were approached by Agil, who wasn't pleased with the behavior of the boys. "What's up with you guys?" he asked as he folded his arms

"What do you mean? As in our arguments with Asuna?" Akira asked

Agil nodded, "Yeah, you used to be in the same party, and now you guys can't go a single meeting without having a single argument," the big man said

Mataras grunted, it was his usual response to this sort of conversation.

"We just have a rough chemistry for right now," Kirito shrugged, "I remember telling her she'd be better off in a guild, but I didn't expect her to join one of the top guilds in the game? _And_ become a floor clearing badass."

"Well, it's alright, doesn't matter really." Akira replied, "Besides, we've got two of our own badass fighting girls, and the leader of the raid from floor 1 in our guild. All three of them are really competent now. In fact, Silica could easily put her skills to at least of the Furinkazan to shame. And as for Sachi, her sword skills could easily beat the HDA, mainly on a boss raid." he pointed out.

"Speaking of which… where did those three go? I saw them heading out with Litrosh about half an hour ago." Agil questioned

"She's getting our meals together probably, we're having a picnic lunch on floor 59, so we should head there now. See you later Agil. You have fun at your shop today." Mataras said, and the three boys headed off to the warp gate.

"Yeah, you too." Agil replied with a small wave, "Take care, y'all."

The Moonlit Black Cats sat down in the fields, outside of town, for a picnic, enjoying some handmade sandwiches made by both Sachi and Silica. Kirito had sausages in the his, Daibel's had a variety of salads in his. Sachi had was munching on a turkey sandwich, Silica was having a cheese and ham sandwich. Akira, and Mataras were both having a classic peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich. And finally, Litrosh, and Pina were gulping down some raw duck meat that they got ahold of with their masters' aid.

The food made everyone in the guild tired, and ready for some sleep, so the group decided to take turns in a tag team watching over the others as they slept. They weren't in a safe zone, so it meant possible players could come by and kill them.

Mataras and Sachi had just turn over guard duty to Akira and a groggy Silica. Akira leaned on his back in front of the tree, while Silica was laying on a thick tree branch above. Akira was only relaxing, and had his eyes closed, but this was all a trick to fake out anyone coming towards them.

A single player was moving towards the group, as Akira prepared himself to strike when the player passed him. When the player stopped, Akira sprang into action, sword in hand, whipping around and pointed the sword to their back.

He heard a familiar gasp, followed by the figure turning around. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?" Akira asked, now looking at the red-and-white clad figure of Asuna.

"Everyone else is working their butts off to clear this floor, and where do I find all of you? Out here, taking a nap." she frowned.

"Not everyone, actually." Akira said, pointing up, hoping to see Silica pop her head down, that didn't happened however because he saw her, fast asleep in the tree. "Oh, dear…" he muttered

"Besides, point A: like Mataras said, we don't really work for you, and point B: Silica isn't used to being on the front lines yet, so we're working up slowly so she can get used for battles like this." Akira said, as he was slowly climbing up the tree to check on Silica.

Asuna sighed at both points, and both were good points, "If you had taken in anything that the three of us said before the battle with Illfang, you'd understand." Akira said as he sat on the branch Silica was on.

"Now, what are you talking about?" asked the chesnut-ette

"Clearly you seem to have forgotten that we should try to live the best we can in this world, and look at us, we're just normal people, we can't fight all the time." Akira said to her, Asuna, however, only simply noticed the frown on his face.

"But there's so much more we could be doing," Asuna fumed

"Yeah well, I bet you didn't know that today is Aincrad's best optimal weather, if you take the time to relax a bit, you might notice it too." said Akira as carefully lifted Silica in a bridal style and climbed down the tree, standing right next to Asuna.

"Don't you get it," she snapped, "Every day in here is another day lost in the real world, why don't you understand that?"

"Because we're not in the real world. We're alive, here in Aincrad. We have all this lovely sunshine, as well as floors like floor 22, and entire lake district, and floor 47, a beautiful flower garden, we have all of these great places. So, why take them for granted? Look at my guild mates, all of our finest players, still able to enjoy life as much as they can to the fullest, and with the best of their ability." With his speech said, and done, Akira went back to lean on the tree, access his menu, and sort some things out.

Asuna started to look around, she wanted to kick something, but the weather, and Akira's words, seemed to neutralize her anger, the warm sun, the cold breeze, the clear blue skies, and lush green grass all acted into one. She looked at the Moonlit Black Cats, with Akira on watch, and the others sleeping peacefully.

"Well, alright, I'll give it a try." she mumbled to herself, as she continued to glimpse at the guild, _Even though they're one of our best guilds, they're trying to make sure everyone stays safe and enjoys themselves. Maybe I shouldn't had tried to be so hard._ she thought to herself, as laid on the ground, closed her eyes, and fell fast asleep.

When Kirito woke up from his nap, he was surprised to notice the vice commander of the KOB sleeping right next to him. _When did she get here?_ he asked with a startled thought. Akira walked over to him, and explained what happened, he then added, "Mataras, Sachi, and Diabel are off grinding, and Silica is still asleep, so I'm going to take her to the inn in town for the night, just until she wakes up."

"I'll take care of sleeping beauty then," Kirito smirked, and then went to the wall on the side of the road.

Pina slowly woke up when Akira came to pick up Silica, "Huh, your awake, but your master isn't." He chuckled a bit, looking at the small feathered dragon, "Alright, hop on up here." Pina instantly did so landing right on top of his head, he found it a bit weird, but got used to it as he continued to carry her back.

He paid for his room, and placed Silica on the bed, Pina had gotten comfy on Akira's head, and decided to let her stay there as he leaned back and stared out of the window. He was thinking of everything that happened during the time while trapped in the death game.

It was nearly sunset when he heard a message box appear in front of him, this caused Silica to wake up, and she was still a little groggy. "What's going on?" she asked.

Akira chuckled as he replied, "Well, while we were spending our time having a nap on the fields, Asuna came and nearly got us into a fight, but I was able to convince her to try and relax a little bit. She ended up falling asleep right next to Kirito as he woke up. You fell back to sleep and I had to keep watch while the group rested, then Mataras, Sachi, and Diabel woke up, Itold them what happened, and that I continue to keep watch, while they left to grind. Kirito stayed put with Asuna, as I brought you back here to finish your nap." after his explanation, Silica felt a bit bad for what, happened, but he assured that she didn't do anything wrong. He then explained that Kirito was having dinner with Asuna on floor 57, and was interested in joining.

Silica chuckled as she heard her stomach growling, "Yeah, some food does sound like a good idea." she said.

The group reunited with Mataras, and the others, and went to the same restaurant where Kirito, and Asuna were going to on floor 57. The group decided to talk about some really funny stuff, while they waited for their meals, when suddenly a piercing scream came from outside.

Everyone in the restaurant rushed outside to see what happened, as soon as the group reunited with Kirito, and Asuna, wondering what was going on.

"Look! Up there!" Silica gasped in horror, as the group saw what she was pointing at, hanging with rope around his neck, was an armored man with a red jagged sword piercing through his body.

"What in the name off…" Diabel looked in disbelief

"Pull it out! _Hurry!_ " Kirito yelled up

"He won't die, this is a safe zone." Mataras said

"We can't just leave him up there!" shouted Asuna leaving a look that would have tank armor melted and plastered on a persons face

Mataras sighed and growled as he drew his sword, "GET BACK!" he roared as he leapted toward the man, but his eyes widened in shock, as the impaled person cried out in shock, and then vanish into a flurry of blue and green polygons.

His shook off his shock quickly, but still needed a place to land, so he kicked of the wall, and flipped back off to land on his feet.

Akira rushed up, and grabbed the sword on the ground, he then stood up, "Everyone! Look for the player winner icon!" Akira snapped

Diabel scanned the crowds from the back, and Sachi walked around the plaza, hoping to see if the player ran off. "There's no winner here, and every player here has a green cursor." Diabel reported back to Akira.

"Then the player must still be inside the building! Kirito! Asuna! Silica, check the tower!" Mataras called out.

The three went in with a rush, no complaints from any of them, a moment later, Silica was on the ledge above them. "There's no one up here!" she announced, leaving Akira to grit his teeth, believing the player must've used a teleport crystal.

The men of the Clack Cats, and Asuna, closely examined the tower, hoping to find some clues. "Well, any luck on finding clues guys?" Akira asked

"Theory one: It was a duel, when the winner was made, he or she threw the loser out the window with the sword still in him." Mataras started

"Theory two: It's an event, and the sword might be a clue to what happened." Diabel added

Sachi, and Silica walked in, followed by a woman, she had dark long purple hair, as well as big blue eyes. "This is Yolko, and the man who died up there was a player, his name was Kains." Sachi said, with a sad and grim look on her face. The same was shown on Silica.

Kirito sighed, "Well, chalk off theory two." he said with a frown

Asuna contacted her boss, and told him she was going to helping a player with a mystery dealing with a murder in the safe zone.

"Let's start with what we know so far." Mataras started with his hand up, "We heard a scream, rushed outside, and saw the victim being hung from the tower, with a big red sword through his gut." he started

"Yolko told us that she thought she saw a hooded figure going into the tower, so most likely, the victor from the duel, teleported out before we showed up." Silica pointed out.

"But we're forgetting something, even though we didn't see the winner's _icon_ , there would've been a clock and health bars of the two players in that duel, in which the remainder of the duel and afterwards, but that's it, we didn't see that anywhere." Sachi said

"Then if it wasn't a duel…" Kirito began

"Then someone found a way to kill allayer while they wee in a safe zone, while they were awake," Asuna summed up, disturbing them with the new theory, "just like you could out in the fields. Not at all like killing people while they're asleep. Great."

"Only one guild I know can pull off something like that." Akira stated

Everyone soon realized who Akira meant, as they nodded in agreement, because they all had the same answer. "Laughing Coffin, the murder guild," Diabel said as he gritted his teeth, "if anyone could do it, would be them."

"That does make sense, but LC doesn't do it unless they were hired to do so." Mataras pointed out, "Now for a new question… who would do this, and why?"

Asuna eyed at the sword Mataras was holding, "Let's take the blade to a specialist so they can appraise it, then we can find out who made it. It would be a start?" she said looking around

"Do you know someone who can do it, Asuna?" Diabel asked

"Yeah, a blacksmith who currently lives on floor 48, but she's busy at the moment, I don't think she can help." admitted Asuna

"Let's try Agil then, he lives down on floor 50," Akira pointed out, "I've actually had his help in appraising before, so he definitely has the skill to do it." he said

"Then it looks like we got ourselves a game plan." Mataras grinned

The group had planned out what to do, Akira and Silica, would stay with Yolko, and keep an eye out for trouble in the town. Kirito, Mataras, Diabel, Sachi, and Asuna would head to floor 50 to talk with Agil.

"Come again my friend." His voice booming as the group reached the shop, a player was walking out, muttering about unfair deals. Kirito went in first.

"I see your still scamming players, as usual." he said

"No way, look who the cat dragged in! You know my motto, 'Buy Cheap, Sell Cheap," Agil replied as he turned from his desk

"Hey Agil, how's business, and nice pun I guess?" Diabel nodded, as they came in.

Agil was about to replay when he saw Asuna in the back of the group. He grabbed Kirito abruptly, and pulled him over his work desk, "You guys are the Moonlit Black Cats! What are you doing with Asuna?!" he asked the swordsman.

"His HP dropped to 0 while in the safe zone?" Agil confirmed. They had just told him the short version of the story, "Let me take a look at the murder weapon." He demanded. Mataras handed him the blade, and Agil activated his appraisal skill.

"A player made this, and it's a very fine sword, in fact, if you can managed it, this blade could probably take you the whole way." he reported

"Who made the sword, and what is it called?" asked Sachi

"The player's name is 'Grimlock', not familiar to me though, he's not even in top smith's, that's for sure." Agil announced, "You're gonna love the name of the blade too, "Guilty Thorn", kinda suits the name doesn't it?"

Mataras then took the sword and examined the blade himself, "Guilty Thorn, huh?" Well, I think I might keep this sword." he smirked

"The red swordsman, bane of the red players, wielding Guilty Thorn, the sword of justice, I like it." Diabel said

"It really does suit you brother." Sachi added

The five bid farewell to Agil and went back to floor 57, Diabel sent a message to the guard team, updating them with the information they got Agil.

A moment later, Akira replied, saying that they were at the tavern. The five players decided to head down and join them.

It wasn't really hard to notice them, as they got closer, they started snickering, Akira was confused on why. Litrosh jumped on Mataras' head, and chirped, this caused Akira to hear a brighter replay coming from the top of his head, this caused him to face-palm on his predicament.

"She's been up there ever since we got back to town." He was, of coarse, referring to Pina, who was quite snug on his head.

"She really likes you, Akira." giggled Silica, she then whistled, causing Pina to jump over to her, and landing on the girls head.

"Yeah, I'm quite curious as to why though?" Akira asked as he shook his head in confusion

"Well, maybe she you to be helpful for when she builds a nest." Sachi suggested

The entire group laughed, while Akira only face-palmed with a groan.

The group invited Yolko to a mid-morning lunch the very next day, hopefully to get some more information on the case, "So… Yolko, do you happen to know a man by the name of Grimlock?" asked Diabel, sparking a conversation

Her expression showed the instant she heard his name that she knew him, a reaction of shock, "Can you tell us a bit more about him?" Silica asked her

Yolko nodded, "I'll tell you, but first I'll tell you how our guild was destroyed," she said, "I was once in a guild of eight called, Golden Apple, our leader, was a brave, and courageous woman named Griselda, she was a strong person, and we respected her for it." she began

"One day, we killed a monster, and a rare item drop. It was a ring which increased a player's agility by 20," she said, "We made a vote, to keep the ring, or to sell the ring, the vote was 5 to 3, in favor of selling it," she paused

"When Griselda went to sell the ring, she never came back, and we confirmed it on the monument of life, she was dead. No-one other than the guild members knew about the ring, and we began to distrust each other. Eventually, the guild fell apart, when Grimlock left."

Griselda and Grimlock were in-game married, he loved her for her traits, but then when he found out about her death, he left and became a blacksmith, in hopes of finding out who killed her." Yolko explained

"I was one of the members that voted to keep the ring, Kains who was killed yesterday, was another." she explained

"And the third?" Asuna asked

"The other is a tank player, named Schmidt, last I heard, he was in The Holy Dragon Alliance now." Yolko said

"We know him?" Silica asked, since she was new to the front lines

"A tank… yeah, he's head of the lancer squad in the HDA, and he's extremely good at his job." Diabel nodded

While Kirito went to meet the lancer with Asuna, the others took Yolko back to her room at the inn. While they waited, Yolko offered to make some tea for everyone, Akira, Mataras, and Sachi went to join them just as Kirito and Asuna returned with a man in bulky blue, and silver armor.

Once they were inside, Kirito and Asuna explained the situation about what happened, Schmidt started to tap his leg up and down, in a deep thought, "So that's what this is about." he eventually said, "But why though? Why did Grimlock wait for so long until now?" he demanded in fear as he raised his voice

"Whoa, take it easy their, buddy." Akira spoke, trying to calm him down

"Settle down." Mataras commanded. He seemed more on edge than usual, Diabel thought, "Panic isn't going to get you anywhere."

"But _why?!_ " the tank repeated, and turned his gaze back to Yolko, but she seemed a bit quiet after coming back from the kitchen, "How can you be okay with this Yolko?! How can you be okay with Kains dead over a stupid vendetta!" he demanded

Grimlock's wife, Griselda, was murdered." Mataras snorted as leaned against a wall, awhile Akira did the same on the opposite side. "I doubt he's thinking clearly at all right now in this state."

"If Grimlock really is behind all this, he must've had to put in a lot of time, thought, and effort into putting this plan into action," Kirito countered, "He must've had a reason for going after Kains. Schmidt, you got any reasons why he would go after him, and not you two? From what we've been told, you three were the only ones to have said to keep the ring, so you should be suspects in what's going on."

Schmidt seemed to be thinking, but then shook his head, "No not really, I don't really have any idea on why he targeted him. In fact, I find it a bit strange for Grimlock to go after Kains, before Yolko, and I"

"Any reason why?" Akira asked

"Well, Kains was the one to get the rare item drop, but he was the who Griselda the ring in the first place, saying she should have it cause she was the leader." the tank said, "He had no intention of keeping the ring at all."

Yolko suddenly seem to freeze out of fear, causing Asuna to notice, "Yolko, what's the matter? she asked

"It all adds up now…" she muttered, "It must've been Griselda's very _ghost!_ She's come back from the grave to get her revenge on us for going against her! Kains was first, and now we're next!" she suddenly bursted out, and backing up to the window

"Yolko! Get a hold of yourself!" yelled Mataras

"That's right! Even if ghosts exited, It's impossible for them to be in the game in the first place." nodded Akira

Schmidt didn't as he was trembling in fear, with his armor shaking, "She's right though," he muttered, "A player can't kill in a safe zone, but a _ghost_ can! We're so dead! We're going to die for what we did, and it's all our fault!" Silica consoled him while Mataras glared at Yolko enraged.

"Now look at you did!" He growled, "Do you see what you've…" His voice was gone instantly as he saw Yolko suddenly jolt up, then begin to sag as she turned around, and revealed a long black dagger embedded in her back.

"Oh my…" Akira muttered, as they gasped at the sight. Silica and Sachi had their hands covering their mouths, Asuna gasped, while Diabel, and Schmidt just gapped. Yolko suddenly fell out of the window and hit the ground as she bursted into polygons, leaving only the dagger behind on the ground.

Akira, Kirito, and Mataras rushed over to the window where she fell from, "Guys?" Asuna asked, putting a hand on Silica's shoulder hugging her while in a state of shock.

"Is she…" asked Silica

"I'm not a healer…" Mataras said, when Kirito didn't answer, "But I don't like her chances."

"Which aren't very good." Akira added

 **Asuna: Man, this is getting intense.**

 **Lauren: Yeah, not like you get when you protect Yui.**

 **Akira: That's true. Anyway, I want to say thanks to those who've supported me in the story so far.**

 **Kirito: Any reason why?**

 **Silica: No clue, mind telling us why?**

 **Akira: Not sure really, but it's the thought that counts.**

 **Sachi: I guess so.**

 **Author Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 6: Grimlock, and The Laughing Coffin.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 6: Grimlock, and The Laughing Coffin**

Akira soon noticed where the dagger came from, and saw a cloaked figure standing across the rooftops.

"Watch Schmidt!" he called, as he bursted out the window with Kirito, and Mataras right behind him.

"Take point!" Mataras called to Akira, as the trio jumped rooftop to rooftop in pursuit of the hooded figure, trailing right behind them, Kirito wasted no time as he threw a few darts at the mysterious player only to see the player protected by the safe zone effects, with purple hexagons showing where the darts would hit.

Akira was just about to grab the figures cloak when the bell rang, and the player vanished in a flash of blue light, just before though, Akira saw what the player was using just before they disappeared, _a teleport crystal?_ , he said to himself, now he was wondering who the mysterious ghost truly was, if one at all.

Akira instantly skidded to a stop as Kirito, and Mataras caught up with him. "So much for our lead." Akira said with his teeth gritted in fury.

"Aye. We almost had the fellow in our grasp." agreed Mataras

"No, I believe we've gotten all the info we needed to solve this this mystery." Kirito said.

"What do you mean that, Kirito?" Akira asked in confusion

"I'll explain once we're back with the others." Kirito pointed out. On the way back to the others, Akira picked up the dagger that fell onto the ground where Yolko was struck, and had a feeling it was also created by Grimlock, from the way the blade was designed.

As soon as they opened the door, Akira quickly ducked under Asuna's rapier, which was pointed at them. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" she demanded as she sheathed her weapon.

"Call it a gut instinct." replied Akira, just as Kirito punched his fist into the wall and a purple hexagon appeared with the words, 'Immortal Object', written inside.

"How is this happening!? The safe zone is supposed to keep players from killing each other, now this is another player has been killed in this town!" he growled

"Well, you said you would figure something out." Akira said

"Aye, and we'll help out in anyway we can. That is a promise." Mataras nodded

"That robe belong's to Griselda," the quiet mutter was coming from Schmidt, as the group turned to see them. "So that had to be her ghost! Yolko was right all along!" he rambled

The group realized that he wasn't thinking straight and about ready to break down, so they sent him back to his guild, away from the crime scene that was once a safe zone.

"There are two things that don't add up." Kirito said as they walked around town. Akira nodded in agreement.

"One: why would a ghost need to use a teleport crystal? And how can they even use one? None of that makes any sense." he said

"That's right, and the other is something we all really hate to admit, but the rules of SAO are all essentially fair. So that means, nobody should be able to kill players in a safe zone, unless of coarse your the GM. The system protects us in the safe zones as much as they try to kill us on the fields." Silica said, recalling something from earlier.

These two points stumped them, thinking in silence. They were right, so something else had to be going on when the two events happened. If they weren't struck down from beyond the grave, how else could a player die while in a safe zone.

"Well, why don't we figure this out after having some lunch." Asuna suddenly said. This surprised the group as she pulled out a picnic basket, and handed out some sandwiches.

"Did… you make these?" Kirito asked, shocked at the kind deed Asuna performed.

"Yeah, I can cook, surprised?" smirked Asuna. "Better eat it, otherwise the durability will run out."

"Okay." Akira replied, as he took a bite from his. He was surprised from the explosion of flavor came from it as he continued eating.

"Whoa, This is really good!" Kirito exclaimed between mouthfuls "For a Vice Commander, you rock!" Asuna chuckled from the compliment and continued eating. The others did as well.

"Hey, Asuna? Could Silica, and I get together with you for a cooking skill session?" Sachi asked, Silica nodded at the idea.

"Alright, sounds like a plan." Asuna responded.

Kirito seemed to way too excited with the idea, that he jumped when the girls glared at him dropping his sandwich in the process, and it broke into little pieces.

"Aw…" moaned Kirito as he dropped to his hands and knees on the floor where the sandwich was. He wasn't moving after that moment, which caused the others to wonder what exactly he was doing.

"Hey, Kirito, are you crying?" Asuna asked.

"SHHH!" hissed Kirito. He then looked up to the others, and finally figured out the mystery. "I was right!" he called out, "I… no, We didn't see anything at all. We only thought we did."

"All right, Kirito, let's hear it." said Akira as he took another bite from his sandwich.

"The system doesn't let a players HP drop to zero in a safe zone, but, it's a different story for the _durability of an object_. Kirito said.

This caused Akira, and Mataras to think on it as well, and started to get the same idea on where he was going on the subject.

"When an object breaks, it looks like a player breaking," he said

"Care to explain that for us a bit more, Kirito?" asked Diabel

"Remember when Kains was hanging with that sword through him, well his HP wasn't dropping but the durability for his armor was. When it dropped to zero, he must've used a teleport crystal to make it look like he was killed." Mataras said

"And what Yolko?" asked Sachi

"I get the feeling she had the dagger on her the whole time, remember when she went to get some tea made, did she, after getting our drinks, turn her back at all when she came back." Kirito stated, with the girls silent he nodded and continued, "She was probably focusing on her armor's durability, and when it reached the single digits, all she had to do was act like she was hit."

"And why would they go through all this trouble in the first place?" Asuna asked

"Schmidt, of coarse!" Akira replied, "Yolko recounted the vote, and Schmidt was one of the members that voted to keep the ring. And when they convinced him that Griselda had returned from the grave to get revenge, he would likely slip up and make a mistake in admitting his role."

"His role?" repeated Silica

"I doubt that he would be strong enough to kill her himself, so he probably had some backup, or a third party was involved." Akira said

"I'll give you three guesses…" Kirito sighed

"Laughing Coffin?" asked Silica

"Probably," nodded Kirito

"I think Schmidt might have something to do with it, probably leading the murderers straight to her." Mataras said, "Hmm…"

"What is it?" asked Asuna

"I'm getting this feeling that we're forgetting something, but what is important is that we solved the mystery." he shrugged in response

Akira, however, was in deep thought, "What happens to the item storage when players get married?" he asked

"They get shared inventory." responded Kirito, "Wait… that would mean…!"

"It doesn't matter who killed Griselda! Grimlock would get the ring anyway!" Akira replied

"You're serious about this are you?" Asuna asked

"Dead serious," nodded the three boys

Mataras then fixed his astare to Sachi, "Check your friends list, Yolko should still be there, if our theory is right," He said

Sachi nodded, and did so, she was surprised to see that she was still alive, "She's on floor 19, on a small hill outside the town."

"So is Schmidt," added Kirito as he searched his friends list

Kains is probably going to be there also," Akira nodded, "I get the feeling that they're about to get a confession from the wrong guy."

"Let's head over to floor 19 ASAP, we need to tell them the truth." Silica said

Not half an hour later, Kirito, Akira, Mataras, and Diabel arrived on the scene, jumping of their horses, and heading to the others. When they arrived, they found Yolko, Kains, and Schmidt, but stayed hidden as another man appeared revealing himself as a tall man dressed in a black cloak and suit, with a hat on top covering his black hair, and glasses covering his eyes. Akira then realized that this man was the one who made the dagger and Guilty Thorn, Grimlock.

"Hello, comrades," Grimlock said, "Long time, no see."

"Grimlock!" Yolko gasped, "What are you doing here?! I thought didn't want to help us any further after making those weapons for us."

Grimlock smirked, "That's true, but the real reason why I didn't want to help you in learning what happened to Griselda is simple. I am the reason she's gone." he confessed

This bit of info shocked the whole group, even the cats, they tried to tell them, but Grimlock decided to do it instead, he chuckled as the news sank into Yolko and the others.

"Y-You killed Griselda?" Yolko gasped, then tried to get to him, but was stopped by Kains, as she screamed at the top of her voice, "How could you?! Why would you do that?! Was it for the money?! Is that why you killed your own wife?!" she collapsed in Kains arms, sobbing.

Grimlock just stared at the trio, and chuckled, "Money had nothing to do with it. I killed her because I had to, becausee she was my wife in the real world as well!" this shocked everyone in the area. "She was my wife IRL, yes, but ever since we came here, she changed, and I couldn't do anything, so I killed her, and settled with her memory!" he explained in fury and excitement, then he calmed down, "Also, now that you know the truth, I'm afraid I can't let any of you three live now." he said.

"What are you saying?" Yolko cried out in fear, only to get an answer when Grimlock snapped his fingers, and soon, three men also dressed in black robes appeared, but the cloaks they wore were much messier, with tannish strapped pants and black gloves showing a picture of smiling coffin on the right hand. One had skull mask covering his face with his hood over, wielding an Estoc, the second was the same, held a dagger, and his face was covered in a black sack, the third, like the others had a purple sash mark on his face, and wielded a butcher knife. These three men were in fact none other than members of the murder guild, Laughing Coffin.

They were just about to strike, the Cats struck, alongside Asuna, "Laughing Coffin! Stand down NOW!" Akira cried out carrying a rare form of rage at them, "This is your only chance to come quietly, otherwise, you'll have to deal with the entire assault team!" he growled

All four boys of the guild, drew their swords, ready to fight, settling into their very own stances.

The three murderers paused. This gave Akira a chance to press on homeward at the trio. "And don't act so surprised about this, it should a rare honor to be in in presence PoH!" he said, pointing his sword at the middle LC member wielding the butcher knife.

"What?! That man is PoH?!" questioned Mataras

"That would make sense for Grimlock to get him, after he didn't have any love in his heart whatsoever!" Kirito replied

After hearing that, Grimlock looked shock, and slumped to the ground, as Kains, and Schmidt grabbed him the arms, moving away from the group. Akira then growled, and lunged, only to blocked by the estoc user of LC. "Nice sword, maybe I'll sell it when I kill you!" he said, narrowing his eyes behind his skull mask.

"Don't be so sure, Red-Eyed Xaxa!" smirked Akira, "Silica! NOW!" A large blue crystal soon appeared from the tree behind him, he caught it, and shouted out, while grabbing the arm of his opponent, four words.

" _TELEPORT! TOWN OF BEGINNINGS!"_

Akira instantly vanished, taking one of the caped murders with him. Everyone gasped at the revelation, Xaxa wasn't taken.

Akira had left, with PoH, to the Town of Beginnings.

The members almost froze out of shock, "You're going to pay for this!" growled the dagger user, revealing himself as Johnny Black.

"I wouldn't if I were you!" Asuna, and Sachi stood right behind the two, and Silica appeared right after, all glaring a stare like venom.

"Surrender!" Kirito growled. Mataras snarled beside them.

The two members of LC growled back, but then sighed, dropping their weapons in surrender.

Mataras rushed in at that moment, grabbing the two from behind lifting up, and bashing the two into a head butt, knocking them out.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Diabel smirked, The Moonlit Black Cats had just captured the three leaders of Laughing Coffin.

The group then turned to see Schmidt, Kains, and Yolko coming towards them, and offered thanks for saving them.

"Party, our place, Asuna, your invited too." Mataras said, as he pulled out a corridor crystal, the group had earned enough col to buy another one.

He opened it, and tossed the two members of the murder guild in, and followed them.

As soon, as the duo arrived in the town, Akira used the moment to strike at the shocked LC member, hitting him on the head with hilt of his sword, knocking him out. Soon enough, three men in greenish grey armor appeared on the scene, one with a red sash on it.

"What's going on here?! I'm with the Aincrad Liberation Force!" asked the leader.

"My name is Akira, of The Moonlit Black Cats! I'm here to turn in a member of Laughing Coffin! Meet the legend himself, PoH!" said Akira, he decided to check on something, grabbing his grim hand and swiped down his menu. He grinned when the three initials showed up.

"The leader of the red guild?" asked one of the soldiers

"Oh yeah, I would also appreciate if he was thrown in jail right away, one of my members will be arriving soon, and with two more arrests." Akira said.

Two of the liberation army soldiers grabbed PoH by his arm, and the third had his sword drawn in case he tried anything.

Akira watched as the men took PoH away, and started to look around, players from all around the town were looking at him, then bursting instantly into cheer.

"He just arrested the Leader of Laughing Coffin!" One player cried out

"Isn't that Akira? The Azure Swordsman?" asked another player

"From The Moonlit Black Cats?" asked a third player

This caused Akira to gulp, grab a teleport crystal, and instantly vanish.

Later that evening, the team regrouped at their home on floor 2, to celebrate this victory.

"Here's to all of us, to Asuna, and to The Moonlit Black Cats!" Kirito grinned

The group all raised a glass in a toast, and cheered. After all, why wouldn't they, taking down the leading members of Laughing Coffin, allowed them to have a bit of joy.

"We wouldn't have been able to do this if it wasn't for Akira, and Silica's idea." Diabel smiled, "Good job you two." he nodded

Asuna, Sachi, and Silica made a large amount of food for the celebration, but just they were about to dig in, they heard a knock at the door.

Akira went to answer, only to receive a man with long grey/white hair wearing a red coat and dark grey trousers.

"Heathcliff?" Akira asked. This was a surprise for him. Normally, the leader of The Knights of The Blood Oath himself, wouldn't come out of Grandam, the 55th floor, but when he did, it was normally for a very good reason.

"Akira, good to see you after what was heard." nodded the older player.

"Yes sir, we're all glad that Laughing Coffin's leader won't bother any players anymore." Akira said, and then asked, "Are you staying long? Would you like to come in?"

"No, I won't be staying long, I thought I drop by and offer you my congratulations on the accomplishment you made today." Heathcliff said, holding out his hand.

Akira took it, and shook, "Thank you very much, but it was Silica's idea, she got the crystal of a very rare monster drop." he said

"Really? Isn't she the young beast tamer?" asked Heathcliff

"That's right, and before you ask, no. You can't have her." said Akira in a glare

"Fair enough, in the end, it's her choice isn't it?" Heathcliff replied. He was about to turn to leave, when he paused, " I would, however, appreciate if your guild and Asuna would come and debrief me tomorrow, but for now, return to your celebration." he said, "Good night, Akira."

Akira watched him go as he replied, "Goodnight… Commander."

Akira closed the door, and returned to tell them who was at the door, explaining what happened. This give an Asuna an idea.

"Remember when I told you about my friend who can appraise?" she asked, as soon as the group nodded, she continued, "Well, she maintains my rapier, and my newest one. Her name is Lisbeth, and she's really good at there job being a blacksmith."

"Can she make swords?" Kirito asked in interest.

"If she can get the right materials, she can what ever you need." she responded

"Sounds like we got a plan for tomorrow." Mataras said.

"Yeah." Akira nodded, "How about we meet with Heathcliff first, and head over to your friends place."

"Sure." Asuna agreed, "as soon as were done, we head down for floor 48, get something to eat and then head over."

"Sounds good to me." Kirito replied.

The group decided to friend Asuna, figuring that she deserved it after everything that happened.

 **Silica: Your son can be scary sometimes.**

 **Lauren: I know, but he rarely does that.**

 **Akira: Hey you two, what are you talking about?**

 **Lauren and Silica: Nothing important!**

 **Kirito: Still it's nice to know Laughing Coffin won't be any trouble.**

 **Mataras: Can we excite him?**

 **Asuna: No way. He might be helpful for information.**

 **Mataras: If you say so.**

 **Lauren: Still, what you did was very brave. I'm very proud of you.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman The Lost Fragment. Chapter 7: Lisbeth, and The Dragon's Cry.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 7: Lisbeth, and The Dragon's Cry**

It was a huge honor made in Grandam, the fifty-fifth floor. The Moonlit Black Cats, and Asuna were summoned by Heathcliff, leader of The Knights of The Blood Oath for a meeting involving what happened a couple of days ago. The group had just arrived to meet up with Asuna, and were about to meet with Heathcliff. Each member told what happened in their part of the case, and were dismissed afterwards.

Kirito, and Asuna were inside the longest after the other members had told what had happened, but were soon called back, and once more congratulated by Heathcliff for a job well done on the capture of the three leading members of the murder guild. He plans on getting more information from from on where the rest of the guild is located. Heathcliff then dismissed the guild, and gave Asuna the rest of the day off.

"Well," Akira said, "that sure was a pleasant surprise, I mean to be welcomed as heroes by your guild. It's a real honor."

Asuna only chuckled as she nodded in agreement.

"So, what do we do now?" Kirito asked.

"I say we head down to Floor 48 to get some lunch, and then I can take you to meet my friend after that." suggested Asnua. "How about that?"

"Okay," Silica nodded, "let's do that."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, and headed for Floor 48, otherwise known as Lindas. When they arrived, the group immediately got some food to eat, and had a great time. Afterwards, they headed to meet Asuna's friend at a water mill area next to a nice stream.

The sound of iron against iron was heard inside, much to the pleasure of a very particular person, in the back of the shop, was a girl, she wore a red dress with a white bow, and apron, as well as white smith gloves, brown boots, and a red garter on her left leg. The only different about her was her hair being pink instead of her regular dark brown, and pinkish red eyes. She was a blacksmith, and the best one too, she had a reputation for helping mid-floor players.

She heard the bell ring that signaled that her door to her shop was opened, "A customer." she said, taking off her work gloves, and straightened herself, and her outfit. Stepping through to the main room, she saw a familiar sight, as well as two girls, and four boys, being shown around, and browsing the selection of weapons.

"Welcome to Lisbeth's Blacksmith Shop!" she said, making everyone look at her.

"Hey, Liz!" said Asuna, as she went over to greet her.

"Hi, Asuna!" replied Lizbeth, as she went over to Asuna. The two then gave each other a hug seeing each other. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I'm planning on getting my Rapier you made for me repaired." Asuna explained, "Plus, this group worked with me on a case dealing in arresting the murder guilds leading members. So, I brought them here to meet you."

Lisbeth wasn't surprised, and figured it would be for one of the those guys. What she saw, however, really surprised her.

The first boy, was dressed in a light blue coat with silver trimmings, with silver chest armor and shoulder pads, white pants, and brown boots. He also wore white fingerless gloves, and had a calvary sword, strapped to his waist, and on his back was a calvary shield.

The second boy was dressed in all black, with a black sword on his back. He wore a black coat with white lines, and silver buckles, The Black Wyrm Coat. He also wore a black shirt, and pants, with black shoes, and black fingerless gloves, but on his shirt was a silver crescent moon. His sword, also white trimmings on it, called The Elucidator.

The third boy, wore a red jacket, blood red shirt, and black pants; a long, jagged red sword was strapped to his back, and a small fire dragon familiar was on his soldier.

The forth boy was dressed entirely themed in Azure blue, with his coat, shirt, vest, and pants. He wielded on his shoulder a the very sword Kirito used before he got the Elucidator, his Moon Blade. Kirito, decided to give him the sword as a way of thanking him with some of details with the murder mystery, and also, as a way of thanking him for being supportive.

The first girl was dressed in a dark blue coat that reached her knees, along with a dark blue clothes from when she first met Silica.

The second girl, was wearing an orange red coat over a black sleeveless shirt, and black skirt. She also wore a silver breast plate, black knee high socks, and shoes, with black fingerless leather gloves. A small blue feathered dragon familiar was perched on top of her head.

"Hello, My name is Akira of the Moonlit Black Cats. The rest of the members are from the same guild, Kirito, Mataras, Diabel, Sachi, and Silica. We would like some custom ordered weapons please." said the boy in azure blue.

"Well, alright, but if you have a specific style of weapon your interested in, could you be a bit more specific please?" Lisbeth said.

"Sure." replied Kirito, he then took his sword off his back, and handed it to Liz.

"An Elucidator?! This is one of the best magic longsword a person can get from a monster drop!" She gasped, then looked up at Kirito. "What does this sword have to do with your custom order?" she asked.

"Well, we would like two custom made one-handed longswords made that are the same weight or better than this sword," Akira said, "We would also like to have a custom ordered dagger for Silica." he listed, Lizbeth nodded as wrote down the orders on a notepad.

"This stuff is going to cost you guys an arm and a leg for making these weapons, you know." she pointed out.

"Don't worry about money, just focus on making the swords." grunted Mataras.

Liz was in deep thought on how to get what the guild wanted, and finally an idea popped into her head. "You guys just might be in luck." she said, "On the western mountains of floor 55, lives a dragon that eats crystals that restores its health. Rumor has it that the dragon stores a rare mineral in its body. I know where it is, so that should be a good place to look for mineral."

"Floor 55 huh? So it's in that frozen wasteland." Silica muttered, already beginning to shiver.

"Oh, come on. It's not all that bad." Akira grinned.

"Yeah, well that's easy for you to say, after all, you're The Azure Swordsman." Mataras replied, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, you two." Kirito chuckled, "So, are there any requirements in order to get the materials you mentioned?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have to come with you, because they say in order to get the metal, you need to have a blacksmith with you in a party." said Lisbeth.

The group agreed and added Lisbeth to the group and headed for Floor 55.

A teleport later, the team were walking up a summit leading to where the dragon lives, before arriving to Floor 55, the group decided to have two parties of four. Kirito, Asuna, Lisbeth, and Diabel were one team, while Akira, Mataras, Silica, and Sachi were the other. The group was wearing cloaks that kept an insulation pack in them. Akira led the group with Silica next to him, Lisbeth, Kirito, Asuna, and Diabel were in the middle, with Mataras, and Sachi as the rearguard. Litrosh occasionally blew out fire every now and again to give a refreshing and warm feeling to the group.

Silica looked up to Akira, and truth be told, she started to look up to him as if he was her older brother, like Sachi did with Mataras. "Hey, Akira? How much further do we have to go?" asked Mataras.

"I don't know, any ideas Liz?" Akira called back.

"We're almost there." reported the blacksmith.

The slope soon began to even out, and proved Liz's statement true, because soon, the girls were enthralled by the array of ice crystals, "This place is so beautiful." muttered Akira.

"Okay, I have a game plan on how to deal with the dragon." Kirito said, getting everyones attention. "Only Silica, and Mataras will deal with the dragon, the rest of us are staying here to hide. Since, our group has two dragon masters, we made not have to fight."

"Good idea, Kirito." nodded Asuna, "You sure are trying hard to protect you guild." she smirked. Liz nodded in agreement.

That stopped when Mataras held his hand up. "Better hide now, the dragon's coming." he said in a snarl.

While the rest of the group hid within the crystals, Mataras, and Silica walked up to the pit, and emerging from the pit was a huge white scaled dragon with huge spikes coming from its back. The creature flew between them and the objective.

"Here we go, Pina." Silica said.

"Litrosh, help her out!" Mataras called.

The two familiars flew up to mid point and started chirping at the giant dragon.

"O he who rides the winds, please, we request an audience," Mataras began. The dragon nodded once as it let out a low rubble.

"Mighty lord who freezes all, we seek a treasure that resides in these mountains, the same of which you use for food." added Silica.

The dragon growled, "We do not wish for combat, He who makes the ground shake, we will search for the treasure, and leave without violence," called out Mataras.

Silica then spoke up, "Will you grant us passage on your land, Great ruler of the winds?" she called out.

Lisbeth was in a state of shock of what was going on, somehow, the dragon was able to understand what the two dragon tamers were saying.

The dragon then snapped its jaws only once, then flew down into the nest behind it, soon returning with a chest in its mouth. The dragon placed the chest down, and stared at Silica.

"I believe it wants you to have it." whispered Mataras. Silica stepped forward to the chest, and looked up at the dragon, pointing to the chest and then herself. It nodded once. She then bent down and opened the chest, almost at her presence.

Inside the chest were two items, one was a rolled up scroll, the other was a beautiful dagger, which was almost made of pure glass, the weapon was between the length of a shortsword, and a dagger length, with a glow like an icy blizzard. Silica picked up the dagger first, and it was added instantly to her inventory. Then she grabbed the scroll.

She opened the paper to read what it said, "If you have received this scroll, then you have given a great honor, my name is Blizzardwing, and I am the keeper of these lands. I bring you this treasure, because you are the first person to have tamed one of our kind, in doing so, have my faith, and trust. If you are ever in need, and your allies are to far away, please call me, I shall ride the winds and help you to defeat any foe."

The scroll vanished as soon as she finished reading when a message appeared in her gaming menu, it read: "Congratulations Beast Tamer, you have earned the unique skill, 'Dragon Cry', with this power, you can summon Blizzardwing to aid you in battle, but when its HP reaches 0, the skill, and the dragon will disappear."

"Dragon Cry?" Silica asked as she looked up to the dragon. 'I hope we meet again.' said a beautiful voice said as the dragon flew off into the air.

Mataras then gave the ok to come out, the group headed over and congratulated Silica for her bravery. Lisbeth followed behind in awe struck, after seeing what happened.

"Wow, you just got yourself a unique skill." Lisbeth in awe.

Mataras whirled around, "Tell anyone about this, and you watch your blacksmith shop burn to the ground." He warned her, she nodded mutely getting the message.

"Take it easy, Mataras." sighed Asuna, "She's my best friend."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about Blizzardwing." Diabel recommended.

"That's true." Kirito replied, "Now we got three dragons on our side, and one is full grown."

"Can't argue with that." said Akira, and patted Silica on her shoulder, showing how he was for her courage.

Lisbeth then turned to Silica, "May I see your dagger? I'll appraise it for you." she said.

"We better wait and do it after we get the metal." suggested Mataras, as he stared down into the pit.

Akira knelt down on the edge of the dragon's nest, and looked downward, "Looks like we'll find the metal down there, right?" he asked Mataras.

"Aye, and I got just the thing," replied Mataras, as he went to access his menu to grab an item. "Argo gave me this elastic-like rope, and I think it might work here. We've already field tested this rope before when we helped out Agil in looking for someone for a thief once. It really helped out." he said. Silica grabbed it and tied it to the nearest stack of crystals.

"Better be careful though. One false step, and its a straight shot down." Akira said, as a way to warn his party members. The group agreed, as they decided to one person should go down. Akira decided to volunteer to go and get the metal. "Well here goes nothing."

"Your insane." Lisbeth said, as he slowly began his descent down into the pit.

When he reached the bottom, he saw that the nest was completely flat, with the ground being made of snow. So the only he could do to find the metal, to start digging. He figured that the players that failed the quest from before, didn't realize that the crystals eaten had to go somewhere. This is why he was here in the first place.

Sure enough, he found what the group was looking for, The Crystalline Ingot, and he had dug a huge amount. He added them to his inventory, and went over to the rope to start climbing up. However, he soon heard a squawk from above, and looked to see Pina, and Litrosh coming down to his level.

The rest of the group waited patiently for any sign of the dragons. "Any sign of them?" asked Lisbeth.

"We're about to find out." replied Silica.

"Dragons HO!" Mataras called out, and saw the two dragons returning form their recon, "hold on…" he added.

He was referring to Akira, who was being held by the sleeves, as the dragons carried him up to the surface. "Hey! Akira!" he called down.

The dragons dropped him on the ground next to the group as they returned to Mataras, and Silica. The group then ran over to him, and Silica reaching to give him a hug. "I'm glad your okay." she said in relief.

"It's okay, Silica." said Akira as he comforted her, "I also got what we came for."

"Only one thing for us to do now," Kirito said, as he turned to the group. "Let's head back to town." he added.

The group all nodded in agreement, as they began to head down, however, as they were about to reach the town, Akira accidentally slipped, and caused the whole group to do the same they landed on a huge sled, and it started to slide. The group started to cry out in fear, but was quickly changed to excitement as they got back town a lot quicker, and crashed into a snow bank, laughing themselves silly.

The group soon reached back to Lisbeth's shop, and got warmed up. Silica then handed over the glass dagger to Lisbeth for an appraise. "The dagger is called, Dragon Fang, and it's a one of kind weapon." Lisbeth reported.

"Hey Liz, can we do business?" asked Akira.

"Sure, what do you have?" Liz asked him.

Akira then opened his trade menu, to see for herself. This left her in awe.

" _50 Crystalline Ingots!_ " Lisbeth screeched, and then laughed, "I'll take them, but I'm not even sure I can even keep business up after this." she smirked.

"Don't worry about it, but don't forget, you still have a pair of swords to make." Mataras said, causing the others to nod in agreement.

Asuna was in awe struck to learn what Akira got while he was down in the nest. She soon realized that MBC really care for one another as a family, more than she realized.

The group then went into Liz's forge, "So, to clarify, two one-handed longswords, right?" Liz said the group, who nodded.

Liz smelted the ingots in the furnace, then moved them to the anvil, while the entire group moved to different areas of the workshop, as Lisbeth began building the first sword. She smelted it with another metal and continued working on creating the blade.

She was completely absorbed into her work, so they decided to not bother her. When the last stroke fell from Liz's hammer, the ingot began to change form in a bright flash of red.

Akira stepped up to the blade, and took in the beauty of the sword which was laid there. Carrying over one single trait, the metal sword was endowed in all shades of blue, with a symbol on the hilt in the shape of lightning bolt. The blades hilt was similar to the Moon Blade, and even the Sun Blade, but only like a blazing blue flame, more intense than regular orange flames.

"This sword is a unique, one of a kind weapon. It's called Azure Lightning." Liz said, as she appraised the weapon. She put the sword on the side and started working on the the second sword.

When it was done, the blade appeared as a beautiful emerald green sword, Liz put her hammer down as she appraised it. "This sword is Dark Repulser. Both swords are one of a kind." She put the Dark Repulser next to Azure Lightning. Then two of the boys, Kirito, and Akira, took the the blades to try them out, Akira went first, and made several swipes with the blade, he smiled with the blades result fitted his the of fighting style.

Kirito followed afterwards, and did the same thing. "Good?" Lisbeth asked.

Akira nodded, "Mine is perfect, it fits within my style of fighting." he said.

"Yeah, these are really good swords, in fact, they're great. It's like you put your entire soul into these swords." Kirito added in agreement.

"Aye," nodded Mataras, "I would even have to call them real swords." he added.

This made Lisbeth really proud of herself, knowing she did a job well done.

"May we add scabbards to the blades?" Silica asked.

"Sure, the scabbards are free. I would however, like to ask a question to The Moonlit Black Cats." said Lisbeth, as she tossed two scabbards over to the group.

Akira nodded to her, "Name it." he said, and sent a trade request which made her jaw drop.

Liz was looking at her window, when her dropped at the offer, "3 million col?! Thanks?" she asked. She shook her head to get out of the shock, and cleared her throat to regain her composure, "I would like to join your guild, you bring your weapons over and I can repair them, plus you can get a steady stream of income." This made the guild, and Asuna look in shock at this request. Liz then added, "You don't have to make a decision right now. Just think about it while I repair Asuna's sword."

While Liz was working on the rapier in her workshop, The Cats were in the shop, thinking about her offer. They did a lot together in such a short amount time, and had a lot of fun too. The reasons she gave them were also good, and in the end, Akira finally spoke, "I say we welcome her in. She might not look like it, but I can tell that Lisbeth really wants to do something here that help out others. In fact, I notice during the dungeon, that she looked concerned, and Diabel comforted her like a sibling would." he said.

This made the point, and decided to welcome her into the guild. While in the workshop, Asuna seemed confused, "Hey Liz, why did you ask to join their guild?" she asked.

Liz was still working on the blade as she answer, "Well, ever since I worked at the shop, I never got to have any adventures, so I got really excited after everything that happened with them." she said, "Plus, I kinda see Diabel, the one who started the raid party, like an older brother, like Silica does to Akira." she added, still sharpening.

Asuna nodded as she understood where she was going, "It's actually the same with Sachi, she looks to Mataras the same way." she replied.

Liz nearly finished as the two continued to talk, "Okay, it's all done." she said as she handed back Asuna her Rapier.

Asuna had just paid her, when the group came back down, all with a smile on their face. "We talked it over Liz, and this is our answer." Akira said.

Lisbeth soon saw a window appear that read, 'Akira would like you to join the Moonlit Black Cats. Do you accept?' She smiled, and immediately hit the yes button, and the guild symbol appeared next to her name, and health bar.

"Our base is pretty much a house on floor 2, come on, close down the shop for a bit so you can where we live, then you can come over whenever you want." suggested Sachi.

"You wanna come along?" Kirito asked Asuna. She nodded in response as they headed out to the home of the MBC.

Lisbeth was given a welcoming party, and was well received by the guild members. Sachi now had the Dark Repulser on her back, and Akira had on his back, The Azure Lightning. Asuna was at the party as well to congratulate her best friend, for now joining in a guild.

"I'm glad, you told us about the place Asuna, now we have a blacksmith in our guild who can restore our weapons for free," Kirito said to her, "So the next time we find a good ore, I have Liz make an even better sword. I'll just have to make sure I do it myself next time." The group chuckled at Kirito's lame excuse for a joke.

 **Sachi: It nice that I have a new sword, so I'm not complaining.**

 **Akira: Yeah that's true, besides Kirito didn't need it anyway. He's good with the Elucidator.**

 **Lisbeth: Your welcome.**

 **Lauren: The next chapter is going to be fun.**

 **Asuna: Oh, why's that?**

 **Lauren: Oh, no reason.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 8: Kuradeel, and the sword dance of many colors.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 8: Kuradeel, and The Sword Dance of Many Colors**

 _Two Years_ , thought Akira, _It's been two years since I saw my mom, two years since any of us have seen our friends and family_ , He sighed. Kirito was leading the way back to town, Mataras, and his 'adopted sister' Sachi flanking him. Akira and Silica were the third row in the group, and Diabel was the rear guard.

Liz sometimes joined the guild on hunts, and excursions in dungeons to clear the game, but ever since joining the guild, she's been busier than ever before. Using the profit she earned to help the guild at the end of each week, the guild eventually bought another house on floor 48, where Liz's blacksmith shop was located.

Akira looked up at the sky through the leaves, _I wonder how my mom is doing, she's probably been struggling to keep having faith that we'll be back soon for these two years._ he thought to himself.

Silica got his attention when she tapped his shoulder, "You alright? You've got a look of thought on your face." she asked.

"Just thinking about my mom, and how she's been doing these days." Akira said, Silica nodded.

"It's difficult for anyone to be separated from the people they care about," Silica said, Pina lowered her head, and she rubbed it with ease. "I understand that a lot, especially since I'm a only child like you." she said.

"I said on the day we went to revive Pina, that she was smiling, knowing everything would be alright, but after being trapped for two years, I don't know." Akira told her.

"She's coped this long right?" asked Silica, coping her head in confusion.

"Yeah, she has," sighed Akira, "but I hope we can get back as soon as possible." he said.

Kirito then held up his hand in a fist, a sign that meant to stop.

Kirito then reached for his belt, and pulled out two throwing picks from his belt, aiming at the tree, and activating his throwing skill. The guild tried to figure out what he saw, following his intense stare.

The first dart definitely solved that, by hitting the tree, a small white blob popped out of the fallen tree trunk, escaping from the noise. The second dart flew, and the white thing was killed in a single shot.

When Kirito opened his menu, he showed the guild his result, and when they saw it, several things happened. Mataras' eyebrows rose a considerable margin, Sachi gasped, Akira and Silica seemed to drift off into a dream like state, and Diabel's jaw had dropped to the floor.

"No way…" stuttered Agil, "This is an S-class rare item! Holy crap, I've never seen one before!" he said. The Moonlit Blacks were lounging around Agil's shop, Akira was against the wall by the door, Mataras and Sachi were sitting in armchairs, Silica was sitting on a windowsill, and Diabel was next to Kirito, leaning across the counter.

"You sure about this man? I'll buy it, but wouldn't y'all rather take it home and cook it for dinner?" he asked Kirito.

Sachi then spoke up, "Believe me, we would, but even with my cooking skill currently at Eight-Fifty, I have around a one in four chance of getting it right, to get the results at a perfecting rate, you need one at least nine hundred or nine-fifty." she shrugged.

"Therefore we figured we'd be better off selling it." Diabel finished.

Akira soon spotted a familiar girl in white and red walk in and poke Kirito's shoulder, calling his name.

Kirito whirled around to the sound, and saw Asuna. "I've found a chef," he muttered, grasping her hands. He let them go however, when the other player in the same colors as Asuna, glared at him.

"We're on your friends list," Akira spoke up, "You forget that you could find out by looking at it?" he said.

This made the man behind Asuna turn on him, and he was angry, "How dare you speak to the Vice Commander like that!" He snapped, coming towards the boy in Azure blue.

"And just what are you going to do about it, Grumpy?" Akira asked the stranger.

"Kuradeel, do not speak to my friend like that." ordered Asuna.

"He should be speaking to you in a proper manner ma'am, he has no right to…" the sentence was stopped as Akira instantly moved with his sword at drawn pointing at the man's throat.

"What did you just try to say to me?" he asked, his eyes shadowed by his hair, and a deep frown worthy enough to equal Mataras' wolfish grin. The cats gulped, because they knew, if there was one thing someone shouldn't do around Akira, it's not to talk about questioning his rights. When someone did do that he would get quite upset, and do a great amount of harm.

"Here's how things are going to play out, you will outside and stay there until we're finished talking with our friend, _Lady_ Asuna," said Akira with his teeth gritted together, "If you insult my rights again, regardless if it's a safe zone or not, I will hurt you." he said, and his eyes changed to be like that of Kite from .hack/G.U.

Kuradeel decided to go, and Akira sheathed his sword, "That's a good dog." he said. Akira then turned to Asuna, "I'm sorry you had to see that, Asuna." he said and bowed to apologize.

Asuna smiled, "It's okay." she replied, "Now that's handled, what are you all up to? What's this about a chef?" she asked.

Kirito came out of his daze. "Oh yeah that. Well, I was wondering what your cooking level is at right now?" he asked her.

Asuna then gave a confident smirk, "Totally maxed it out last week." she announced, leaving everyone in the store in a state of shock, Akira had his eyes widened, while Mataras' eyes widened, and Diabel and the girls, all dropped their jaws, "Cool huh?" she bragged.

Kirito smirked back, In that case, I need a favor." he said, and opened his menu to show the holy item to Asuna.

"You… You got a Ragout Rabbit?" gaped Asuna.

"Yep. All you got to do is cook it up, and I'll let you have a little bite." He told her.

Asuna, however, made a counter offer, "I'm getting the same as you." she said, grabbing the collar of his shirt, pulling him close.

"Hey Asuna, why don't you two have it together, the rest of us just saw the catch, after all, it's not like we can contribute." Akira said, as he glanced over to the others.

"That sounds like a good idea, and besides, if we all had it to eat, then there would be a small portion for each of us, so it wouldn't be worth it." Silica nodded, the others seemed to respond in voicing their opinions on the offering.

"Alright!" Asuna pumped a fist of joy. Akira gave an friendly inward grin, there was something going on in her mind.

Kirito then turned to Agil, "Sorry pal, you heard the lady, guess I'm keeping it." he said.

"Yeah, but what about me? I thought we were bros man!" whined Agil.

"I'll write a review for you, but only two pages, promise!" Kirito laughed.

The two went out, and Akira kicked himself off the post he was leaning on, and walked over to Agil, "Hey, Agil… I was wondering…" he said, coming to the desk.

"What? Did you get a super rare item too?" Asked the shopkeeper.

"No, nothing like that. Have you ever thought about joining a guild?" Akira asked him.

"What? Are you offering me a place in the Moonlit Black Cats? You know me man, my first duty is businessman." Agil replied.

"Yeah, so what? We got Lisbeth in our guild, and she still hammering iron. Plus, I was kind of hoping to try and get to know our guild better, like how you trust Kirito." Akira said, as he placed his hands on his back.

"Eh, I don't see a problem in that. Sure count me in then!" Agil said, after some thought.

Akira instantly sent the invite, and Agil hit the accept icon, thus the guild symbol appeared next to his health bar. He then said his good byes, and went to join the others.

He noticed Silica waiting on the windowsill, and Diabel at the door, "Mataras, and Sachi went out a moment ago." the latter said.

The three went out to see a confrontation in the streets, "Are you suggesting that I am inferior to them?" said Kuradeel.

Mataras then spoke up, "Sir, you are making a scene where there doesn't need to be one," he said, as he reached for his sword, and his dragon familiar growled, "Your commanding officer has given you a order, and you have disobeyed it. So I'm going to use a rule that has worked multiple times in the past."

Akira smirked, as he knew where this was going, "Kuradeel's about to get some bad luck. Black Cat bad, that is." Silica giggled right beside him.

"I love it when he does this." Diabel nodded.

"I'm going to give to the count of three, to turn around and walk away." commanded Mataras in a flat tone. "One."

"You must be joking!" Kuradeel laughed, "I am a member of the glorious Knights of the Blood Oath, and I will not bend to some lowly maggot like you!"

"Two." Mataras' count wasn't in any hurry, and his sword wasn't even drawn yet.

"I wouldn't test him Kuradeel, this guy almost single handedly took down the leaders of Laughing Coffin." Asuna said, this made Kuradeel back off, but hesitate at the last second.

"Three." said Mataras, his sword came up, and flipped around so the blade was held, then, without warning, he rushed foreword and sent Kuradeel flying back into the dirt, leaving either dazed or unconscious. This caused Akira, Silica, and Diabel to burst out laughing at what happened.

"Oh man, that never gets old now does it?" Akira asked, while Kirito and Asuna left for the teleport gate.

The rest of the guild, along with Agil, went back home to their 'guild hall', a three story building, and it was only a block or two away from Liz's workshop. After welcoming Agil to the guild, and having some dinner, Akira went upstairs to his room, and out to the sky from the balcony. He then heard a knock at the door, and permitted entry, Silica walked in, she was wearing a lime green shirt, and black shorts, her hair was down, not in the ponytails that she had.

"Are you ok?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thinking about my mom." Akira told her, he then walked over and sat down on a chair he would have outside.

"You feeling homesick?" Silica asked him.

"Yeah. I miss her so much." Akira sighed. Silica continued to watch him, as she noticed a single tear streak down his face.

"I remember that we talked about this once before, you were so different back then." Silica said, coming to sit down next to him, giving the boy in azure blue a hug.

"I remember when I told you about my family, and how were close, but I still wonder, if it will still be the same after these years in Aincrad." Akira said.

"I think so." Silica replied, hoping to bring some confidence back. It worked as Akira smiled.

The next morning, Kirito woke everyone up early, though he was surprised to see Agil in the guild, but was glad none the less, as everyone sat down and had some breakfast, Kirito mentioned Asuna was joining them in a party. The rest of the group started laughing when he told how she threatened to stab him if he didn't let her join them for dungeon-clearing.

Kirito groaned, "Oh, come on you guys. You wouldn't be laughing if you saw the terror in her eyes."

"Oh yes we would," Akira smirked, "because it wouldn't be directed at us."

"But hey, it looks like you got yourself a second date." Mataras grinned evilly.

"You sure work fast." Silica added, and then bursted into a fresh set of giggles.

"It wasn't like that!" cried out Kirito.

"Oh?" Sachi questioned, in a similar state to the other girl. "What do you call a dinner at her house, alone, with a rare piece of cuisine?"

"Dinner!" Insisted Kirito. "Seriously, don't say it's a date in front of her, she'd kill me the moment we were out of the safe zone!"

"I'm considering telling her anyway, and seeing what happens." Lisbeth said, as she equipped her armor.

"Agreed." nodded Diabel.

"Oh yeah? Then what do you call _your_ dinner last night?" Kirito asked Mataras, "Or you?" he said, turning to Akira and Silica.

"Brother-sister time." said the two boys, after Kirito finished asking.

"Hurry up everyone, we only have five minutes before we have to meet Asuna." Diabel said, prompting the group to finish up breakfast.

The Moonlit Black Cats waited for fifteen minutes, when they first arrived, Akira decided to try out something new for his outfit that Silica gave him, adding an azure blue hat, with a long white scarf, until Mataras and Kirito started getting impatient. "I don't think she's coming." muttered the former.

"Maybe she got caught up in some last-minute business with her guild." shrugged Akira.

The boy in azure blue moved to get up from where he sat, when suddenly a flash of blue appeared behind him, followed instantly by a girl in white and red. The duo fell into a very… awkward position.

Akira made quick calculations in his head, wondering what if he did if he placed his hand in the wrong spot. _Breast + Pressure = ME flying into a column_. He then grabbed her by her sides as he carefully rolled her off him.

The two players were blushing as they got up from the experience. "Good morning, Asuna." said Akira, as he helped the girl up.

"Morning, now, hide me." replied Asuna, before the teleport gate flashed again, revealing a familiar face.

"Why are you acting this way ma'am," Kuradeel asked, as he stepped down, "I'm only carrying out my mission."

"Well hello grumpy, here for a rematch?" said Akira as, he waved with a smile.

"Not you filthy beaters again," groaned Kuradeel at the sight of the Cats, "Lady Asuna, let's head back to headquarters at once, you shouldn't hang around with players like them. It's not your place."

Akira sighed at this, and stepped foreword, "I get the feeling you didn't understand what I said yesterday, or maybe Mataras didn't hit you hard enough. Everyone is their own person, and as Horton once said, 'A person a person, no matter how small.' Looks like your going to need another lesson."

Kuradeel growled, "You got a big mouth kid." He said, "So, here's what's going to happen,once I beat you, Lady Asuna will return with me to Grandzam."

Akira frowned at this, having a feeling that this would happen, "Very well, Kuradeel. Send the challenge." He said.

The window appeared before him, and made the commands to accept.

The whole group stood back as Akira drew his sword, and whirled it into a stance, his left out, with his sword held back high, and straight foreword. The guild realized his pose was similar to Riku, and Vanitas from Kingdom Hearts.

The clock hit zero, and Kuradeel began to charge, while Akira charged his sword in a white glow, the blade glew brighter and brighter until suddenly, the blade bursted into flames, surprising everyone. "What the…" exclaimed Kuradeel.

Akira then charged in and unleashed a sword skill, Horizontal Square, this somehow caused a burn effect on Kuradeel, as his HP went into the yellow zone, ending the duel.

"Game over, Kuradeel. You've lost, now you have to leave." Akira said in a simple, yet sad tone as he sheathed his sword, and walked towards the others.

Meanwhile, Asuna was in a state of shock, _what happened to his sword that let gave Kuradeel the burn effect like that?_ she asked herself, _I better ask him how he did that._ She barely registered the fact that his sword was glowing for a skill, but for it to go on fire when attacking, this made her really surprised.

The others just blinked in awe, as Akira walk over to them, "When were you going to tell us that your sword could do that?" asked Kirito.

"I'll tell you once we leave town." replied Akira. Suddenly, he heard the sound of armored footsteps coming towards him, he palnned to strike back, but when he prepared to defend himself from Kuradeel, who was charging at him, Asuna blocked the blade with her rapier. Kuradeel was knocked back, and when he tried again, Sachi had drawn the Dark Repusler out to keep him from attacking. "Asuna, if you have anything you want to say to him. Now's the time as any." Akira suggested to Asuna, who nodded in agreement.

"Kuradeel." Asuna called in a commanding voice, getting his attention, "As second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, you are hereby relieved of your duties as my bodyguard. Furthermore, I will contact Commander Heathcliff, with a report of what has happened, and should he agree, which I believe he will, you are hereby expelled from the guild. You are not to come near Grandzam, or my friends again. Now leave." Kuradeel seemed to sag off as he left to another floor at the teleport gate. Without another word, Asuna, and The Moonlit Black Cats walked away towards the exit.

"So, what exactly happened to make your sword burst into flames like that?" asked Asuna, on their way to the dungeon.

"Well, about a week ago, I was with Liz as she sharpened my sword, and enhanced it, but somehow the blade was added a fire crystal by accident. I didn't know until later on that day when I got a message saying I got a unique skill called Azure Flame. It allows me to a deal a burn affect if land a successful sword skill combo. I told Lisbeth about it first, and she recommend I talk to Argo. Afterwards, I practiced using it on mobs out on the fields of Floor 1 to be safe." Akira said, as he opened his menu to show his party members.

"A unique skill? I'm quite surprised that you hid it. Looked almost like dragon fire, not bad, brother. Not too bad at all." Mataras nodded at the Azure Swordsman.

Akira sure had to admit it, with Asuna around, the dungeon was cleared much faster than ever, the monsters were taken out much faster than usual, the monster were easily wiped out and mapped out all the routes. Mataras then soon noticed something at the end of the road.

"Look there everyone." He said, for right ahead of them was the boss room.

"Right, everyone knows the standard procedure, fastest members, get ready to recon ahead." said Akira, and walked up to the front. Silica, Asuna, and Kirito nodded in agreement and followed him, while Agil, Liz, Sachi, and Diabel watched from the doors.

Akira, and Kirito shoved the heavy doors open, and slowly trudged inside, with the girls at the flanks. They continued inward until a torch lit up in blue flames, then another, and another, this continued until the entire room lit up with the eerie fire. In the middle of the room, the boss looked down at them.

They all flinched at the sheer size of the creature, it had the head of a goat, finely toned muscles and arms that easily held up a _giant_ horse cleaver like sword the size of a school bus called, a Zambato, Akira then saw a snake-headed tail curved around from behind. This creature was a minotaur. The group then saw the name and the HP, "The Gleam Eyes…" Kirito swallowed. The creature then lifted its blade and roared, showing blue glowing eyes. This caused the recon team, and the fallback team to do the one logical thing.

Run for their lives, doing crying out in fear as they ran for the nearest safe zone.

 **Lauren: Wow, how scary was that boss?**

 **Akira: Almost like I was in King Mino's Labyrinth.**

 **Lauren: That scary then…**

 **Kirito: Yeah. So how are we going to deal with this boss?**

 **Akira: With help from the tactician.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 9: Ren, and The Wyvern's Inferno.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 9: Ren, and The Wyvern's Inferno.**

Akira and his party didn't stop running until they reached the nearest safe zone. It was then that the group collapsed from exhaustion, and adrenaline rush.

"That was close." Akira gasped, as was leaning on the wall.

"Aye," agreed Mataras, "I think that has got to be the fastest I have ran since the two years I've been in here." he said leaning on a pillar trying to calm down.

"One thing is for sure." said Diabel, "That boss is going to be tough to beat."

"Yeah, your right, I saw he only had that giant horse cleaver, and he's probably got special attacks too." Kirito nodded.

"We're gonna have to put up tanks in the front just to wear it down." Asuna pointed out.

"And it probably wouldn't hurt to have ten shield users or so." Sachi sighed.

"Shield users huh?" Asuna suddenly asked, looking at the guild.

"What's up?" Kirito asked a little uneasy.

"I just noticed something, the biggest advantage to using a one handed sword, is that you can also use a shield, but I don't think that besides Diabel, I don't think I've seen any of you guys ever using one before." she pointed out.

"Oh, well Mataras taught how to use the sword without the shield, and I'm glad he did, otherwise I wouldn't have made out of that dungeon on Floor 27 if I was any slower than I was." Sachi explained.

"I'm more of a balanced user when using a one handed sword." Akira said to Asuna.

"I don't use a shield because it slows down my Dragon Blood skill, it also reduces for options in combat." Mataras said, then everyone turned to Kirito.

"They look dumb, and they're known to slow people down, I'm sure I've seen multiple times about shield users getting killed because they were slowed down by the weapon." said the black swordsman.

Asuna decided to back away, for now. "Oh well, since it's getting late, why don't we have lunch here?" Asuna, Sachi, and Silica all handed out sandwiches, Akira got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Silica. Kirito was made a sauce taste tester and discovered that she made mayonnaise and soy sauce.

At that very moment, the group heard the sound of players entering the safe zone, they were tensed, ready for an ambush, revealing several men in red samurai armor dragging their feet into the area. Their leader was familiar man wearing a red bandana around his head.

"Hey Klein, I haven't seen you in a while." Agil waved. The group looked up, and saw the safe zone was already occupied.

"Oh hey you guys, how are you doing?" Their leader asked, coming to meet them.

"We're doing good, Klein." replied Akira, only to turn and see Kirito turn his face away.

Kirito was still feeling down for leaving without him on the day the whole thing started.

Klein looked around, "You seriously still hanging around with this loser?" he asked, then spotted Asuna at the back, "Kirito, stop taking all the girls dammit." he said in a friendly manner.

"Asuna kinda partied up with us." Silica explained.

"Leave some of the girls for the rest of us man." said the samurai.

Just then, another guild entered the safe zone, the group were young teens, around the same age as The Moonlit Black Cats. This was the guild known as Wyvern's Inferno.

The first member was a young boy with black hair, had light blue eyes, and wore black frame glasses. He had a black cloak on over his dark blue shirt, light metal armor, and black pants. He wielded a one handed sword with a white two handled grip. The boy was around the same age as Silica. His name was Quint Polaris, or Quint for short.

The second member was a girl around fifteen, she had red hair tied up into a ponytail, and wore red light weight leather armor with shoulder pads. She had light blue eyes, and wore a hooded cloak which hid a single short sword sheathed on her waist. This was Dagger, otherwise known as the Rip-off Merchant.

The third member was also a girl, around the same age as Silica, and the young boy. She had brunette hair, pink eyes, and was rapier user. She wore a red shirt with light chest armor, with a pink skirt, red fingerless gloves, black knee high stockings, and and black with silver trimmed, high heeled shoes. Her name was Mai.

The forth member was a young boy in his teens around the same as the other guild members but a year older tan their leader, he had blonde hair, and light blue eyes, but mostly used a dark green cloak to hide his dagger when in combat. His name was Riku, the leaders cousin.

The fifth member was another boy around the same year as the leader of the guild, he had messy black hair, orange eyes and wore black and red light weight battle armor over a black shirt and pants, and wielded a two handed axe, which was strapped to his back. This was Helios, one of the most prideful members, and Dagger's boyfriend.

The last two members were very well known as well, the first was a girl around the same age as the others, and an older sibling to the young brunette, she had long black hair, red eyes, and wore a red and black dress over light silver armor. She also wielded a long scythe strapped to her back. Her name was Alice, and she was Mai's older sister. The Other was the leader, he had brown hair, light blue eyes, and wore a black shirt, with a red coat overtop. He had brown pants with matching fingerless gloves, red shoes, and a red sword strapped on his back. His name was Ren, he was the leader of the guild, Alice's boyfriend, Helios' best friend, and Riku's cousin.

Akira instantly recognized them as they stepped into the safe zone. "Hey Ren, It's so good to see you." he waved.

Ren saw the two guilds and made his way over. "The feelings mutual, Akira." he said.

The group had quite a conversation with each other, even congratulating Helios, Dagger, Alice and Ren on becoming couples, but then Akira saw Kirito was still nervous, and Akira remembered why.

 _FLASHBACK_ It was during the second boss raid, on the second floor, with a field boss called Furious Horn, a giant sized bull with a nose piercing, and the creature was rampaging over the fields. The party was having trouble with the boss, until Ren stepped up and gave battle commands.

"Alice! Riku! Go for the legs!" he commanded the two.

The duo did so instantly, knocking the creature of balance, he then commanded Helios to knock down the boss, and was done so. He then got in with Kirito, and his party to take down more of its HP, and Ren finished the boss off. Ever since then, Ren was well as a warrior, and a strategist. It was after the battle when Kirito introduced, The Wyvern's Inferno to his Party members. Ren, and Akira became fast friends, same with Mataras, and Helios, though they did acted more like rivals. After leaving, Kirito explained why he felt so down, and Akira suggested to try and make up with them the next time all three of them were together. Kirito never forgot that. _END FLASHBACK_

Akira walked over to Kirito to get his attention, "Hey, If you want to make up for what happened. Then now is a good time as any." he suggested.

Kirito sighed, and decided to it now. "Hey Klein, Ren?" he said getting the two's attention. "Remember when the event happened on Floor 1, you told me to go on ahead?" he asked.

The two nodded as he continued, "Well I felt really bad for leaving you guys that day. In fact, I've been regretting that event ever since I left for the next town." he continued, and then bowed to both Klein, and Ren leaving everyone in shock. "I hope you don't get mad, but I wanted to say that, I'm sorry for leaving you guys. I should've stayed and helped you, but I turned and ran to try and clear the game on my own. If it hadn't been for Akira here, I might not have gotten this chance to tell you." he finished.

At first nothing really happened, until Ren came and put his right hand on Kirito's left shoulder, and when Kirito looked up, he saw both of the men smiling.

"Is that why you've been such a downer. You don't have to worry about that." smirked Klein.

"He's right, the past is in the past, so you don't to worry about it anymore. We forgive you man, but on one condition." Ren nodded.

Kirito smiled as back to his guild, "Name it." he said.

"If you need to talk about anything wrong, just let us know from now on, okay?" Ren said, and Klein nodded in agreement.

Kirito then did something he never done before, he stook out his left hand, and gave a thumbs up. "You can count on that one, Ren." he replied.

Everyone laughed, and cheered as Kirito, Ren, and Klein made a group fist bump to show the past was finally behind them. Kirito then introduced Klein's guild, and Ren's guild to Asuna, and vice versa. The men from Klein's guild were apparently fan's of her, because they crowded around her to get a chance to say hello.

Then Mataras drew his sword at the men, "Don't treat Asuna as some idol like that, in fact,d on't treat anyone in my family like that!" he said, Asuna and the others looked at him with what was close to shock. He considered her a part of his SAO family?

Before anyone could him what he meant, the safe zone barrier went up again, and everyone turned to see a large group of greenish-grey armor troops walk in lead by a man in the same armor with a red sash on his shoulder.

"It's an army." whispered Sachi.

"Isn't that the big guild that runs Floor 1, The Aincrad Liberation Army?" asked Mai.

"Yeah," nodded Klein, "But what are they doing here?"

"I haven't seen them since the boss fight on Floor 25, and ever since then, they've been focused on building their numbers instead of their levels." Asuna replied, "I don't think that they been on the front lines ever since then."

"At ease!" commanded the man in front, his men abruptly collapsed into a pile. The leader of the group moved forward, stopping a few meters of the three guilds. "I'm with the Aincrad Liberation Army, Lt. Colonel Korvatz." He introduced himself.

"I'm Kirito, Leader of The Moonlit Black Cats. This is Ren, Leader of Wyvern's Inferno. Klein, Leader of Furinkazin, and Asuna, Vice Commander of the Knights of The Blood Oath." said The Black Swordsman.

"Sure, you are. Have you cleared the area ahead?" asked Korvatz, he was obviously not impressed.

"We did, and we also have a map with directions to the boss room." nodded Kirito.

"Alright, then hand over the map data and we'll be on our way." demanded Korvatz, much to the shock and anger of everyone in the frontlines.

"What the hell? Do you know how much a pain in the ass mapping can be?" questioned Klein.

"It's extremely hard work to do, and really dangerous also, the worst that you guys get are slimes, wolves, and boars, we have to deal with even tougher enemies with way harder attack patterns." stated Akira.

"We share our resources with civilian players all the time! And we don't charge a thing for it! Now hand over that map!" Korvatz demanded again.

The whole group all growled in rage, or annoyance at this, just when Akira was about to stoke out his sword, Kirito held his hand to stop him.

"It's cool everyone, as soon as we got back to the town, I was gonna public the map anyway." said Kirito, as he set the trade menu up, and handed Korvatz the map.

"You should've charged him." moaned Dagger.

"Thanks for your cooperation." said Korvatz, as he closed his menu.

"By the way, If your going to challenge the boss, I wouldn't recommend it if I were you." Kirito added.

"That's my decision to make, not yours." Korvatz simply said.

Kirito could see that Korvatz was going anyway, even though he tried to warn him. "Hey, my guild, Asuna and I all just saw the boss earlier. Trust me, especially your men, look at them, they're half dead from exhaustion!" he said.

"Nonsense! My men are tougher than that!" snapped Korvatz, he then addressed his troops, "We're moving out! On your feet men! Come on move!"

The army then staggered to get back up and followed their leader out of the safe zone. The others just watched as they left.

"Is it just me, or did Korvatz imply that we are inferior to his troops?" asked Mataras.

"I'm pretty sure he did." muttered Kirito.

"Just who the hell does he think he is?" shouted Helios.

"Korvatz's negotiations aside, you think they're going to be okay." Klein asked.

"They wouldn't rush the boss room without finding out more about it first… right?" asked Asuna.

The group thought about this for a minute, and Akira replied, "Come on everyone, we better make sure that they're going to be alright." The group nodded in agreement and went after them.

As they walked, Ren walked up to Kirito, "You said your group already saw the boss right? What exactly did it look like?" he asked.

Kirito shuddered as he remembered the sight of the boss, "It was a giant demonic goat like monster called, 'The Gleam Eyes'. It wielded a giant sword called a Zambato, and I'm pretty sure the boss has a breath attack." he said.

"Any info on the attack patterns?" Ren asked.

"No, because as soon as we saw the boss, we ran for our lives as fast as we could." Mataras answered for Kirito, as he shook his head.

"So it's that strong, huh?" said Ren as he thought about how to deal with the boss.

With the aid of Furinkazan, and Wyvern's Inferno, the way back to the boss room, was a lot faster, and easier than before, but what was to be expected from there guilds working together.

Alice swung her scythe and knocked back the weapon of a lizardman. "Asuna! Switch!"

Asuna sped right past her and struck the monster with her rapier, taking the rest of the mob's hp down to zero. When the monster was gone, the two gave each other a high five.

"Your really amazing with that scythe of yours Alice." Asuna said with a grin.

"Thanks Asuna. But I have been wondering about something." she replied as a smirk came along Alice's face as she leaned in towards Asuna. "Just why exactly are you partying up with the Moonlit Black Cats' leader, Kirito?" Asuna's cheeks started blushing at the question, this caused Alice's smirk to get bigger. "Is it because you like him?"

"W-W-What makes you say that?!" exclaimed Asuna.

Alice only smiled, while the other girls giggled at her, seeing how flustered she was. "Oh yeah, you totally like him." she then turned to Kirito, and his brothers fighting alongside Ren. "He really is amazing though, Kirito and his brothers-in-arms. Working in guild must be hard for them, yet they manage to do it so well."

Asuna smiled as she stared at Kirito, "Yeah, he sure is amazing." she said.

Mataras, and Akira didn't use their unique skills, it was to make sure the group didn't get any weird ideas. Kirito swung his Elucidator upwards, as Akira strock downwards, and Mataras hit the mobs' arm, taking the weapon off. "Alright Ren! Finish it!" called Kirito.

"With pleasure." Ren grinned as he moved in and attacked with a sword skill. His sword, Inferno Blazer glowed in a bright light as it slashed away the last of the monster's HP. It let out a painful cry as it shattered to pieces.

Klein slashed through the last mob with his katana, "Well, that's the last of them, all that's left is the boss room." he said.

Mataras however, noticed something wasn't right. "I still haven't seen any of the Aincrad Liberation Army yet."

Mai nodded, "I wondered what happened?" she asked.

"Maybe they used some sort of teleport crystal to go back." suggested Klein.

Everyone hoped the comment was true, until they heard a scream filling the air. "Those IDIOTS!" Mataras scowled.

Akira ran off towards the sound followed by his guild mates and Asuna, along with Ren. The sounds of screaming got louder and louder as they got closer to the boss room.

As the group reaches the boss room, they all gasp at what they see inside. The entire ALA guild were scattered around as the boss' back was back to them.

"What are you doing?! You've got to get out of there! Quickly use your teleport crystals!" cried out Akira.

"We can't!" one of the soldiers cried out, "The crystals aren't working!"

"The boss floor is an Anti-Crystal Zone?!" Kirito asked.

Akira, Kirito, Mataras, Diabel, and Sachi all flinched as they remembered what happened the last time this happened, leading to the death of Tetsuo, Ducker, and Sasamaru.

"What's going on?" Klein called, as the rest of the group arrived to see what was happened.

"The Aincrad Liberation Army doesn't know the word retreat!" cried out Korvatz, "Come on! Keep fighting!" he commanded.

"They can't use their teleportation crystals." explained Ren, and was trying to figure out how to get the army out of the area.

Klein was wondering if their was anything they could do until Korvatz made a mistake that he couldn't call back. "Ready! _CHARGE!_ " he called out.

"No! Stop! Don't Do It!" Akira called out, but it was to late. The boss unleashed a blast of pure energy on the Army in a breath attack, and then thrusted his sword into the army, scattering them, and tossed one towards the front gate. It was Korvatz.

"Hang on Korvatz!" muttered Kirito as he rushed over to help him.

Korvatz's helmet broke into fragments, and revealed his frightened face, shedding tears. "I can't believe it." he muttered and shattered into polygons. The group gasped in horror at what just happened.

The boss raised its sword, preparing to kill the rest, as a scream came from one of the army members. Mataras' eyes blazed silver, "Blast you!" he snarled, drawing his sword, and charging the boss.

"Mataras!" cried Sachi, as she rushed in after him, with the rest of the massive group following in, as Mataras struck on the boss' back. The boss shrugged it off, and punched him back.

Mataras managed to land back on his feet and saw the blade coming in. Akira came in with Kirito to block the blade.

"Get out!" shouted Akira, as Mataras move away to safety.

Meanwhile, the rest of the cats, Furinkazan, and Wyvern's Inferno move the Army out of the boss room to safety. "Thanks…" said one of the soldiers, Klein turned to him as he replied.

"No problem, buddy." he replied.

Akira was leading the evacuation, and helping Silica and Pina who were holding a soldier together. However, the boss was unleashing a massive amount of damage to the whole group. Mataras, Kirito, and Asuna were fighting the Gleam Eyes as much as possible, but weren't doing a lot of damage. This would take forever to beat the boss, and everyone was nearing the yellow zone while the Army was almost dead. It would be the end, _unless…_

Akira then had an idea, it was risky but they were put down to their last option. "Hey Klein, can you help out Asuna and the others, while Sachi, Mataras, Kirito, and I take care of something for thirty seconds?" he called out.

"We'll try!" Klein called back and went to help out the others while Sachi went to Mataras, Kirito, and Akira.

"Sachi, I want you to give Kirito the Dark Repulser, I'm going to use my Azure Flame skill, Mataras you use your Dragon Blood," said Akira in a almost state of command, he then turned to Kirito, "Kirito, you have to use it."

"But if I do…" Kirito started to say.

"No buts, If you don't don't use it, everyone is going to get killed by that boss!" argued Akira. Kirito set his jaw, and opened his menu without saying another word. Sachi gave him the sword, and the trio stood side-by-side as Kirito shouted to the other warriors.

"All right, we're ready!" cried Kirito. "Switch out!" Klein, Asuna, Ren, and several others moved out of the way swiftly with their HP in the yellow zone. Normally, they would use healing crystals by now, but the boss room prevented the players from using teleport crystals, so all the crystals wouldn't work, even healing crystals. It was up to the Moonlit Black Cats now.

Akira moved in first, as his sword bursted into flames, and unleashed a sword skill called, Vorpol Strike. The impact landed on the boss' back, giving it the burn effect.

The Red Swordsman went in next, deflecting the massive blade, and shifted his body to parallel the massive blade, and landed his sword, Guilty Thorn into the boss' face. The attack made the boss staggered back a few paces.

Kirito roared as he skidded his Elucidator across The Gleam Eyes' blade. As he did, an emerald light appeared on his back. As it manifested, it turned into the blade Sachi gave him, the Dark Repulser, Kirito grabbed it and struck the blade into the Gleam Eyes.

The others stared in shock, Mataras' eyes were a glimmering draconic silver, Akira's sword was ablaze in azure blue fire, and Kirito was use two swords at the same time. This was something that has never happened in Aincrad. Kirito then used his two swords to block the boss' blade and pushed it back.

"It's all you Kirito!" called Akira.

Kirito nodded, "Okay, here goes." he said, looked up and attacked, "Starburst Stream!" he yelled, his two swords glowed in a veiled light as he struck at the boss. The Gleam Eyes' health dropped dramatically. He was putting all of his energy into this attack, and stabbed the boss, until his Elucidator was caught, he still had Dark Repulser and the blade struck through, causing the boss to shatter into polygons.

"Is it over?" asked Silica, as a huge sign saying Congratulations appeared. However, everyone was still staring at Kirito, who suddenly passed out, and collapsed onto the ground, and lost consciousness.

"Kirito!" cried Asuna, as the whole group over to see if they could help him. She sat next to him as he laid unconscious on the ground as she called out, "Kirito! Wake up, Kirito!" she begged as the swordsman slowly got up.

"Drink. No complaints." Mataras, ordered, handing him a health potion, Kirito took it and did so.

When his health was back in the green zone, Kirito turned his attention to the others, "How long was I out for?" he asked.

"Just a few seconds." replied Akira, and sighed in relief, knowing his friend was okay.

"You reckless idiot!" cried Asuna, as she embraced him tightly and bursted into tears. "I was so worried something might've happened to you." she said as she continued to cry.

Klein stepped up solemn, and delivered the news that no one wanted to hear. "We managed to heal the rest of the army, but, Korvatz and two of his men were the only ones that didn't make it." he sadly said.

"We did so well to." Mai sadly said as she hugged her sister Alice.

"Aye, we haven't lost a player in a boss fight, since our battle with the Dark Prankster on Floor 67." Mataras nodded.

Klein on the other hand was angry, "That wasn't a boss fight, that was suicide!" he said, "Korvatz was a damned fool to go and do that!" He then turned to the army enraged, "There's no to any of this if you die!"

The Army couldn't come up with an excuse to explain what they did was wrong, as Klein turned back to Kirito and the others.

"You guys aren't off the hook yet either, what the heck did you do just now?" demanded Klein.

Kirito looked at the group with a bit of concern in having everyone wanting to hear the details. "Do I really have to tell you?" he asked.

"Of coarse you do, what was that?!" exclaimed Ren, "I've never seen anything like it!"

Kirito looked down and sighed, and he told them what it was, "Akira, Mataras, and I all have extra skills. Mine is Dual Wielding."

"Whoa!" exclaimed the rest of the group. Kirito then explained how he got his skill and why he didn't show it to anyone, and then, Mataras told his unique skill, Dragon Blood, it basically freed him from the system boundaries of combat, but couldn't provide additional damage. Akira went last and explained his Azure Flame skill.

Afterwards, Klein asked, "Hey, are their prerequisites?"

"If I knew I would've told you by now." Kirito replied.

Dagger smirked as she asked a particular question, "And you didn't show this why?" she asked in a smirk.

Akira replied, "Remember how Heathcliff first reviled the Divine Blade, and then formed the KOB? Many players wanted to know how he got the skill, and couldn't explain, a lot of players got mad until the guild was formed."

Dagger's smirk went away, and nodded in agreement as to why they didn't show it off. Klein nodded, "That makes sense actually. Yeah, well most players are but not me. True though, many players would get jealous about that, and that." Klein said as he referred to Asuna still hugging him. "Life is an experience, so keep soldiering on pal."

Ren nodded in agreement, "We're going back to town to rest up. See you later guys." he said.

"Well, we're gonna trigger the warp gate, wanna come?" Klein asked.

"Nah, we're good, we're heading home as well." replied Akira as he went to join his guild.

"Alright then." Klein sasid as he turned to he to the stairs, as he reached the first step, he stopped and turned to Akira, "Hey Akira?" Klein asked.

"Yeah?" replied Akira.

"Were you the one, who convinced Kirito to talk to us about what happened on Floor 1?" Klein asked, with a concerned look.

Akira smiled and nodded as he replied, "Yeah, I was."

Klein smiled as he rubbed his eyes, "Well, I'm glad you did. Well I'll see you next time." he said as he turned around and went upstairs.

Akira then turned to his guild mates and saw Asuna still hugging Kirito, "You want to stay here for a bit, and talk to Asuna?" he asked.

Kirito nodded, and told them to go on ahead as he stayed put with Asuna.

The next morning was not so good for the Cats, turned out Dagger went and told on them about their unique skills, and the group was now hiding in Agil's shop. Kirito was slouching on the table, and Akira was grumbling in a fury. Mataras and Silica soon walked in, "Ugh, that's the house on Floor 2 gone. Now we need to find a new place to live." Mataras muttered.

"At least we got to keep our furniture, I have some in storage to help out." replied Silica.

"Why don't we turn our place on Floor 48 our new home?" Sachi suggested.

Liz then walked carrying in a box of supplies, "No good, I'm working overtime because of what happened." she replied.

"Oh man." groaned Akira.

"And if this day couldn't get any worse!" said Mataras.

And if someone was toying with them, Asuna soon came in panting from running, with a look of worry on her face. "Guys, I don't know what to do. We got a huge problem!" she announced, as Akira turned to Mataras.

"You were saying." he mumbled.

"Outside of boss fights, I don't think we've properly met, Moonlit Black Cats." The four leading figures of The Knights of The Blood Oath were in a meeting with The Moonlit Black Cats, and the room was similar to that of The Knights of the Round Table.

"That isn't true, we did meet before the boss fight on Floor 67." said Kirito.

"You also came to congratulate us for capturing PoH, and the other leaders of Laughing Coffin." added Akira.

"Yes, 67 was a difficult fight. We lost quite a number of players." The one speaking was Heathcliff, founder of the KOB, and the Assault Team. "We may be the top guild, but we barely manage to get by with the troops we have." he said.

"I think I know where this is going." said Akira.

"Go on." the Commander said.

"You believe that because Asuna partied with us yesterday, you think we're trying to take her away from your guild." Akira stated.

"That is correct." replied Heathcliff.

"And you want to duel Kirito for her 'freedom', and if we win she can come with us." Akira said.

"And if you lose, You will incorporate The Moonlit Black Cats into the Knights of The Blood Oath." Heathcliff finished.

"Now hold on a moment, If this is for the future of the Black Cats, this should be more than one-on-one." Mataras interjected.

"That's right, since it is my former guild at stake, I say it's better to do a best of three in a series of duels." Sachi suggested.

"Fair enough Miss Sachi. We'll settle it that way. The guild with two out of three wins and the conditions will take affect." agreed Heathcliff.

"Well then, if that's the case. Let the games begin!" smirked Akira.

 **Akira: All right, it's time to bring some big shot warriors down. Let's get them!**

 **Mataras: I agree, bring the fodder so I can break them.**

 **Asuna: Just don't overdo it!**

 **Lauren: Wyvern's Inferno? When did this come up?**

 **Akira: This wasn't my idea, the author asked the creator of this guild, TheSib, if he could use them for his story, and somehow manage to work them in somehow.**

 **Mataras: So that guild are not yours?**

 **Akira: Nope.**

 **Author: Next Time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 10: Guild Duel! The Moonlit Black Cats vs The Knights of The Blood Oath!**

 **All: LINK START!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 10: Guild Wars! The Moonlit Black Cats vs The Knights of The Blood Oath!**

"My god! How can you three be so stupid!?" pouted Asuna. This event was to fight for Asuna's freedom was brought at the capital of Floor 55, known as Grandzam, inside the floor's duel arena, Akira, Mataras, and Kirito were triple checking their gear before the first member of the trio was called out.

"Asuna, this isn't just for _your_ freedom, Heathcliff said he wanted the entire Guild into The Knights of The Blood Oath." growled Akira.

Asuna sighed as she sat down on the bench, "The other day, when all three of you unleashed your full power, I've never seen anything like it, but you know, The commander also has a unique skill of his own too." she said.

"Yeah, we've seen it too, The Divine Blade, it maximizes his attack and defensive capabilities. His offense is amazing, and his defense is unbeatable." nodded Kirito.

No one has ever seen Heathcliff's HP drop into the yellow zone before, not ever." Asuna told them.

"Don't worry Asuna, even if Kirito loses his fight to Heathcliff, Mataras and I can deal with your guild's number three and four members." Akira said in a reassuring voice.

"And if he does lose, I've got you covered, because I don't plan on letting some second-rate nerd defeat me in a fight." said Mataras, swinging the Guilty Thorn in a casual manner.

"Well, Red Swordsman, I can't imagine seeing you losing a fight to anything, or to anyone." grinned Akira, "By the way Mataras, why are you letting Kirito fight Heathcliff?" he asked.

"I like to call it a matter of honor." Mataras smirked, "It should leader vs leader, so our black swordsman is going up against the red mobile fortress." Before anyone could make a retort at the statement, the horn sounded off, signaling the first fighters to come fort. Akira stood up, and drew his blade.

"This battle shouldn't take very long, three minutes at best." said Akira, as he walked up the steps, to the opening.

Akira's opponent was actually a good friend of his in real as well, his name was Godfree, and he was the commander of the vanguard for the assault team for the KOB, he wore the traditional white and red armor for his guild, and from Akira witnessed, preferred strength over speed, and as Akira analyzed his opponent, he saw a the axe that he needed to get past in order to beat him.

He glanced at the arena, and saw the arena packed with players from all the available floors so far, and near the top, were a group all too familiar to him, it was Ren's entire guild, Wyvern's Inferno, coming down to cheer them on. "Come on, Akira! You can do it!" called out Ren.

"Hey Ren! I take it you came to cheer us on in these duels?" Akira called out.

"You better believe it, buddy! Show them what a black cat can do!" Ren shouted back down.

"That's the plan, Ren." grinned Akira.

Godfree sent the challenge for a duel, and he accepted, the larger man then gripped his axe and pulled it around to the front into a battle position. "Are you sure you wanna do this kiddo, I'd feel pretty bad for humiliating you, so if you wanna throw the towel now, I won't hold it against you." he said with a grin on his face.

"Sorry Godfree, but you just insulted my pride as both a warrior and a gamer, which means you won't be seeing me holding anything back." smirked Akira.

Neither competitors said anything else as the timer went, both were in a strong gaze at each other. Akira developed many battle stances for offense, defense, and speed. Since Godfree was more of an offense warrior, he needed to use his specialty with his opponent and entered his second battle stance, in which his pose was similar to Oda Nobunaga in Samurai Warriors 4, just standing to one side as his sword was on the side, not hidden though. This stance was mainly used against players like Godfree, this gave him an advantage to fool his opponents into a false sense of security. When they get in close, he strikes.

Akira continued to watch the timer as the time went down, _three, two, one,…_ "GO!" His sword started to glow a bright white and the glow grew brighter and brighter until bursting into flames, surprising all their, even Heathcliff. Akira then charged and used the sword skill Vorpal Strike which hit god free like Godzilla's atomic breath. The impact didn't give him the effect he wanted to inflict, but it did surprise the audience, minus those that already saw the ability.

"Holy… what was that you just did?" asked Godfree noticing that chuck of his HP was gone from the slash mark on his chest.

"Azure Flames, it's my unique skill, so, you wanna continue, or throw in the towel?" smirked Akira.

"Hey! I'm the captain for the KOB front lines, if I gave up, it would hurt my reputation." Godfree replied, and swung his axe multiple times, but Akira kept dodging each of his swings. From the crowds, The Moonlit Black Cats were cheering for their member.

"Akira's really gotten used to his abilities being a balanced warrior." Sachi said, as she saw Akira using his sword to block and retaliate.

"Of course he is. He's even toying with him." Diabel nodded, he even jumped over Godfree and stoked his arms, but wasn't able to remove a limb.

"Come on Akira, you can do it!" cheered Silica.

Akira grinned as he heard his friends call out to him. "Sorry pal, but my friends are watching the fight, so I have to end this now." He said, and charged in with a blazing sword in hand as he jumped up and struck down at Godfree's axe knocking it to the ground. The crowd gasped at what happened, especially when Godfree couldn't pick up his axe when he tried to grab it.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait three minutes before grabbing a two-handed weapon Godfree." Akira said, and pointed to his left hand, Godfree looked and saw in surprise that his hand was missing.

"I can last that long!" cried out Godfree, as Akira sighed sadly, and unleashed his Horizontal Square skill at Godfree.

From the stands, everyone saw how Akira used his blade of fire against Godfree, cheering for the combatants, so it wasn't long until the match was called, Akira won, Silica smiled as he came to the viewer box.

"You were great out there." Silica giggled in joy.

"Thanks. I couldn't have done without you, or our family." Akira smiled as he hugged her, and petted Pina.

"Kirito's up next, isn't he?" Asked Liz from where she was leaning against a lower wall.

"Yeah, I want to watch his fight with Heathcliff, something isn't right with him." Akira nodded, coming to join his friends.

Kirito stepped out onto the field, looking around, he knew everyone was now more excited for the second match, and who could blame them. When Akira revealed his unique skill, he knew that Heathcliff was in awe struck during the fight. Now two unique skill users were going out in a duel, not that, but they were the leaders for two of the best guilds in all of Aincrad. Still, his beater skills were wondering if they should've chosen a more subtler location.

"I'm sorry about this Kirito, I wasn't expecting this to become a huge event." Heathcliff said as he looked around, "It's crazy."

"Maybe the MBC could've a cut of the tickets." smirked Kirito.

The wary smiled vanished from Heathcliff, as he frowned, now it was time for battle, "No, but since your guild put up a bigger fight, I'll skip the normal initiation procedure once you've been added to the Knights of The Blood Oath. You'll even stay together in the extended party format." he said.

Kirito rolled his eyes, "In case you forgot Heathcliff, even if you beat me, have you've heard of Mataras losing a fight before?" he said as the red paladin sent the invite to duel, and accepted. "You've got a lot to learn if you think he's going to let your number three person beat him, he's the Red Swordsman, bane of the red players."

"I'm very well aware of that, Kirito." said Heathcliff, as he drew his longsword from his large crucifix shield, gripping both tightly. His red armor sparkled brightly in the afternoon light, which made Akira wonder if he had his armor polished for the battle. "Honestly, I expected Akira to be defeated by Godfree, but when his sword bursted into flames, I had a feeling we'd be having a tiebreaker. So we might as well get the show started, but despite Mataras' skills, I doubt he'll be a match for Raphael."

Kirito gritted his teeth, and barred them with narrowed eyes at Heathcliff, "Now you've gone too far." He growled as the counter hit five.

"Huh?" asked a honest and confused Heathcliff.

"Don't _ever_ mock, my friends, my guild!" roared Kirito, as the timer hit zero and he unleashed his special attack, _"Starburst Stream!"_ the sixteen hit combo was unleashed but was stopped by Heathcliff so easily.

In the stands, The Moonlit Black Cats were startled by his tactics, "Why did Kirito use his special attack first?" asked Sachi, "Isn't that risky?"

Akira gave a Mataras like grin as he explained, "Starburst Stream is a strong attack, but it isn't the most powerful attack, Kirito's ace is more unbelievable to unleash. Trust him, our leader knows what he's doing."

Starburst Stream ended and Heathcliff emerged from his shield, Kirito then made for an attack on Heathcliff exposed ribcage. The man parried, and bashed him in the chin with his shield, sending him reeling.

Akira cringed at the impact, "That one could've hurt him." He said, as he checked the current party status, including his, Mataras, and Kirito, and saw Kirito's health went down a chunk from the impact.

Kirito didn't let up and catches himself on his feet, and lunged forward with swords glowing yellow, unleashing more combos against Heathcliff's defense, landing hits, but taking more heavier attacks from his opponent.

The two broke away, only for a moment, as Heathcliff nodded approvingly at Kirito, "Your reaction time is truly incredible." he said smiling.

As Kirito shot back, Akira grinned, "No surprise at all, in all of Aincrad, Kirito is probably the most aware of everyone in the game." he said.

Kirito dropped another Starburst Stream into the mix, and was more determined than ever to finish the match, as his opponents HP was reaching the yellow, the time was now.

His left sword bashed the shield too far away to Heathcliff's left side, his black sword on the right was just about to strike him and end it. However, something happened that wasn't how he planned, it _was_ over.

Akira was in shock at what happened, he recalled in between seconds, Heathcliff's shield was coming back to block Kirito's attack, he then thrusted his sword into Kirito's arm, and brought his HP down to the yellow zone.

And it was over, the winner was Heathcliff, Akira turned to his guild, " _Please_ tell me all of you saw that." muttered Akira.

"I saw it too, how did that happened?" nodded Diabel.

"His shield was in recoil effect from Starburst Stream." Silica added.

Akira looked down at the Red Paladin, "Just who are you really, Heathcliff?" he asked quietly.

"Akira? Your face is getting scary again." said Silica, as she tugged his arm.

"Sorry, I was thinking." replied Akira.

Kirito joined a moment later, "All of us saw, and we can't believe it. It's totally ridiculous!" said Akira, before the boy in black got to say anything.

"We better keep an eye on Mataras' match and see if it happens again." nodded Diabel.

Mataras walked up onto the arena standing twenty paces away from his opponent, another sword/shield user, and the third in command of the KOB, named Raphael, he answered only to Heathcliff, and Asuna. According to the said girl, they were equally skilled, maybe Raphael was even better than her in level of skill. The MBC wondered why she would be above him, one, because of her skill in using her rapier, and her unmatched beauty.

Mataras then grew a small grin on his face, _Maybe more people will want to join our guild, too bad the acceptance rate is one in a thousand._

"What are you smirking about Red Swordsman?" The young man facing him asked, a trace of hostility in his voice.

"The thought of your imminent defeat." chuckled Mataras, his smile changing from thoughtful to smug. "You maybe skilled, but not even Asuna could best me. Don't get cocky on me- it makes for my foes too easy to defeat."

Akira and his friends were really looking forward to this battle, he didn't often get a chance to see Mataras challenge a random punk, even if they were in a high-up guild like the KOB. Mataras didn't even draw his sword, which confused Raphael. "You plan on fighting me with only your bare hands?"

Mataras' grin grew bigger, but instead of it being a black cat, it was more like the Cheshire Cat. "The thought is tempting, but no."

"You dare to address me like that, bastard?!" shouted Raphael, his eye was twitching unlike Kuradeel, but this man was clearly not as mental as him.

"Yes, I dare address you like that, in fact I'll address anyone, anyway I choose." Mataras said as he went into a fighting stance, "I am a free man, and I'll be blasted before I let any man tell me how to speak my words." The timer went off, and Raphael charged, shield in front, and sword glowing in the back.

From the crowd, Silica gasped, "That guy is actually falling for it." she said.

"Looks like it, now we're to witness a really good show." Akira said laughing.

Mataras then darted forward, grabbing Raphael's shield with both hands, and with a good powerful tug, threw him across the field.

He wasn't done yet, and rushed forward with Guilty Thorn fully drawn, Raphael was still from being interrupted in his skill effect, and was paralyzed for five seconds, giving Mataras more than enough time to strike his blade into Raphael's leg. What shocked the knight was that now his health was drained by about a sixth.

He got back on his feet though, with his sword lighting up in a icy blue, launching a series of thrusts at Mataras, it wasn't like Asuna's favorite attack. It hit the boy in red a few times, and forced him back, giving Raphael a chance to stand back up.

The two warriors clashed once more, Raphael was swift, and accurate, while Mataras was speedy and unpredictable. Of the two, Mataras was the better fighter, but Raphael was no slouch when it came to combat, using his auto assistance to chain his attacks.

It wasn't long however, when Mataras saw pattern emerging after a few minutes, their duel being the longest of the match. Mataras wasn't going to be denied his victory.

His eyes changed and went from almost black holes of fury into radiant and dragonic silver eyes, letting out a merciless war cry, he renowned his vigor,and became more ferocious in his attacks, just as Raphael was about to let out a flurry of strikes again. Pushing his free will to the limit, he defected the longer blade with his thicker blade, then whirled around and separated his foe's shield arm at the elbow, this made the loose arm shatter and leave the shield behind.

It got even worse for the white knight, Mataras still had three seconds left before Raphael could move again. He looked into Mataras' dark orb like eyes in hope of finding mercy. Sadly for Raphael, there wasn't any.

Akira nodded in satisfaction as Mataras finished off his opponent with brutal efficiency. As the HUD declared the winner above, The Black Cats, and the whole crowd cheered, as the MBC rushed out to congratulate their friend for the victory.

Akira reached him first, and gave him a friendly punch on his shoulder, "Great fight man, It was the best I've ever seen!" he grinned.

Kirito nodded, "I'll say, great job, brother!" he said.

"Are you serious?" said Mataras with some sincerity in it, "I thought your was the best until Heathcliff got lucky."

"Stop being modest brother, it really doesn't suit you." said Sachi as she gave him a hug.

The group soon turned to see Asuna walking up, and no longer showing the symbol for the KOB, meaning Heathcliff kept his word about Asuna leaving the guild. "Thank you so much, Mataras." she said, extending her hand.

"You are welcome, Asuna." nodded Mataras, as he shook her hand, then brought it Kirito's arm, causing her, and Kirito to blush. "Kirito, however is the one to thank. We wouldn't have been this strong if it wasn't for him, and who knows, if any of us weren't around, he might've had to fight Heathcliff on his own."

"That isn't a comforting thought." admitted Kirito in rueful grin. "Now come on everyone, let's head over to Agil's place to hide."

Everyone agreed, including Asuna, and they instantly heading for his shop in Algade.

When the group arrived, most of the members hid in the room, while Liz, and Agil dealt with customers. It lasted until the sun began to set, and when the visitors left, the Black Cats let out a sigh of relief.

Kirito then smiled and put his hand on Asuna's, "So, since your out of a job now, would you like to join our guild Asuna?"

"Kirito…" smiled Asuna as her eyes filmed with tears. "After everything that's happened, and all the things we've been through together. Nothing else would make me happier. Of course I'll join you!" And she threw her arms around Kirito, who was normally oblivious tithings around him, until the day he met Akira, and Mataras, he chuckled as everyone cheered in welcoming their newest member.

 **Akira: Well, I should explain about the poses, when I first came to Aincrad, I like to try out different moves similar to characters from other games I'm familiar with when fighting.**

 **Kirito: Yeah well, I still can't believe that Heathcliff beat me.**

 **Mataras: Aye, something is not right about him.**

 **Silica: Let's worry about that later, right now, let's go home and celebrate!**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 10: Megumi, The Crimson Maiden.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 11: Megumi, The Crimson Maiden**

The guild arrived back to their base in high spirits, it was after hiding from the players who were wanting to know how to get a skill to rival Heathcliff's or to beat a member of the KOB silly. Asuna, Sachi, and Silica all went to the kitchen, and made a feast worthy of kings, while on their way back to their base though, Kirito stopped over into the forest really to do some hunting, and returned with a huge surprise, something they might not see again, Ragout Rabbit, and this time, enough for everyone to have.

Akira sighed in relief after the meal, and watched everyone mingle, Liz, Agil, and Diabel were muttering to one another, Kirito and Asuna were speaking to each other quietly, and Mataras and Sachi had gone off to bed, tired from the long day.

In silence, Akira went upstairs to his balcony, he leaned against the railing again, and watched as the day/night routine of Aincrad begin to shift. A knock came from the door, and Silica walked in, with Pina on her head.

"You ok?" she asked as Silica came out to stand with him, Pina chirping in concern.

"Yeah, I was just… thinking." sighed Akira.

They both sat down on their own designated chairs, and enjoyed the peace and quiet that always came from this spot.

"Earlier toady, you address me as big brother." said Akira, with his eyes closed.

"Oh, I did?" said Silica, and put a hand over her mouth, "I'm sorry, I mean, It's just that your an amazing person to look up to, and I've never really had a sibling before…" she said. Akira put a hand on hers, and smiled, petting Pina as well.

"It's alright, in fact, if it makes you feel better, then you can call me what you like." replied Akira, still smiling at her.

"I guess hearing those two words brought back some memories of your family." figured Silica.

"Yeah, they sure did, my little sister." nodded Akira.

A while later, Asuna came upstairs to the sleeping quarters, she was about to walk passed Akira's room, when she remembered he looked glum at dinner, and left after he had finished eating. She knocked gently at the door, but herself surprised to see that the door was open, she could hear the sound of light breathing, coming from inside the room as the door retracted. Asuna then peeked inside and found an adorable sight.

Akira and Silica were sleeping together in Akira's bed, While Pina was sleeping right in between the two, their faces were carrying a peaceful trait, and not wanting to wake them, Asuna quickly left, with a smile on her face.

The next morning had come, and Akira had walked into the sitting room, of the guild hall, having returned from his morning walk, and saw Silica, Kirito, Agil, and Diabel were just milling around, and preparing for a another day out on the fields.

A lot of the members were all in new outfits. Agil was now sporting a green coat, with blue chest armor, boots, and gauntlets. He also wielded a battle axe called, Garuda. Silica was still wearing her black sleeveless shirt, and skirt, with a breastplate armor, but had an aqua blue coat with black sleeves, and sky blue trims on her coats collar and cuffs. Silica also had on sapphire leg socks, and her black shoes, while around her waistline was her short sword-like dagger, Dragon Fang. She had her tied into two short pigtails, with her ribbons, with her dragon, Pina on her head.

Diabel was now truly living up to his nickname as The Silver Swordsman, because his outfit was now comprised of a wolf grey coat, and a grey shirt and pants. He also wore black combatants, fingerless gloves, and boots, along with silver chest armor. At the ready on his belt was his new sword, Caliburn, and a new calvary shield called, Defender, strapped onto his arm. It wasn't much, but gave enough stats to protect himself against an attack.

Akira also sported a new look, his outfit was completely azure blue, but mostly resembled Kite as he appeared in .hack/ LINK, which had a vest baggy pants with straps near the bottom, and a shirt underneath. His gloves and shoes were black, and had on his head, his Blue hat, and around his neck, the long white neck scarf. His coat was also azure blue, with metal shoulder pads, and the split down at the waist. He still wielded the Azure Lightning strapped to his back.

Kirito still wore his Blackwyrm coat, and had the Elucidator, and Dark Repulser strapped in an X on his back.

Soon, the rest of the guild came down, and were ready to go.

Asuna was wearing a white coat with red line trimmings over a white blouse, and red combat skirt. Black knee high socks, and black boots to finish the look. Her rapier, the Lambent Light was strapped to her waist.

Lisbeth was now wearing gear similar to Asuna, she had on a black undershirt with park pink combat skirt, with golden lines neatly sewn. Her sleeves were separate, and of the same colors from her upper arms all the way down to her wrists. She wielded a mace called Miracle's Wake which was clipped to her waist belt, and had a buckler on her wrist.

Sachi was wearing a light blue short sleeved blouse with dark blue trims on the collar, sleeves, and on the base. She also wore a blue combat skirt, and white gloves with dark blue cuffs. A midnight blue coat was over her blouse that reached her knees. Sachi also had a sword strapped to her back, the blade was called, The Cresent Moon.

Mataras was wearing an updated version of his red trench coat, with a fire red shirt, and black pants. He also wore black boots, and black fingerless gloves. Mataras spun Guilty Thorn in a reverse cycle, before sheathing it on his back.

"Even though our group is full of amazing players, were still a bunch of metal heads." chuckled Akira.

The group went on a hunting trip, and to do some grinding on the favorite hunting spot of The Moonlit Black Cats, Floor 60. It was a forest plateau with tall trees, and rocky pathways. Not many monsters on this floor, but they did have good drop items. Not to mention the scene was almost like a scene from a storybook. Mataras, however, insisted that it was similar to a set of mountains located in the eastern region of the United States. Akira agreed revealing them to be The Rocky Mountains in Colorado. He then suggested it was like they were in the forest of Sleepy Hollow in New York.

The group soon stopped for a break, and Asuna distributed sandwiches, and ate in peace. They were already on their way back to town she they decided to rest. After having their meals, Sachi passed out some cookies that she made that morning on the guilds stove. "I know my skill isn't as high as Asuna's," she said admitted sheepishly, "but I hope they're good enough."

"You sell yourself short," Mataras smiled as he took a bite. "This is very good, Sachi."

"I'll say!" said Kirito as he tore into his chocolate chip cookie. The others nodded in agreement.

"They're right," nodded Asuna, "This is pretty good. Maybe you could show me how to make them sometime?"

Before Sachi could respond however, several darts were shot out at the entire guild, and hitting them all instantly, Akira looked at his HP bar and saw a paralyzed effect status on him, and his friends.

Soon, a familiar laugh came from behind the trees and stepped out into view, the figure was wearing the very guild uniform of the most infamous red guilds, this man is with Laughing Coffin.

Knives, "Is that you… Johnny Black?" asked Diabel.

The figure smiled, and let out a chuckle, "You wish, but sadly, no. I'm not Johnny Black, but he did teach how to make poisons while I visited him at the Black Iron Castle prison." said the man, whose voice soon brought a familiar theme.

Akira shuddered as he remembered who it was after he spoke, "I know that voice. So, you decided to join the murder guild, huh?" Akira grunted as he spoke, "It makes sense actually, I had a feeling it was you the moment you spoke, Kuradeel!"

The figure removed his cloak hood, and sure enough, it was Kuradeel. He grinned as he laughed like a maniac as he walked towards them. "Oh there's more to it than that. I've always been with Laughing Coffin, and worked as a spy the whole time." he revealed.

"So, all this time. You were a traitor to your guild, The KOB!" growled Mataras, trying to move.

"Basically, but I should stop talking or the poison will wear off." smirked Kuradeel moving his sword over Kirito, as he revealed the tattoo for Laughing Coffin. He chuckled as he heard the girls screaming for him to stop, but he din't listen, and struck into Kirito's body, first his left leg, then his right arm, and then straight through his stomach. Kirito struggled to get the sword out, as Kuradeel chuckled with insanity. "DIE!" cried Kuradeel.

Just as Kuradeel was about to finish Kirito, another voice was heard, this one was girl, "This ends here and now, Kuradeel!" she cried.

A light of crimson red soon sped through the trees, and suddenly, it struck right at Kuradeel, knocking him back and removing the sword from Kirito's chest.

The next instant, Sachi moved and removed the knife from her shoulder, and threw it away. She then handed Antidote crystal to her guild mates as they began to move once more. Asuna gave Kirito a healing crystal just in time and saved his life.

The guild had their weapons drawn as they stared at Kuradeel in fury, as their enemy struggled back onto his feet.

"Die, damn you!" Kuradeel screamed.

The very next minute, Asuna charged in an struck at Kuradeel multiple times, causing to scream in fear, and drop his sword, and fell to his knees. He begged for his life, and at the very last moment, she hesitated. Sensing this, Kuradeel let out a wild swipe and knocked Asuna's rapier out of her hand and prepared to remove her head from her shoulders. But Kirito moved in faster, and shoved Asuna to safety but his left hand was cut off. His right hand, however, still held the Elucidator, as it glow yellow and stabbed Kuradeel right in the chest, draining the last of his HP.

"Damn you…" Kuradeel groaned, "You… murdered me…" and he shattered away, much to Kirito's satisfaction.

The group then turned to the girl that saved them. "We're grateful for your help." said Akira, "We're known as The Moonlit Black Cats. My name is Akira, this is Kirito, Mataras, Sachi, litrosh, Silica, Pina, Agil, Asuna, Diabel, and Lisbeth." he greeted.

The girl turned to them after sheathing her sword, revealed to be around her late teens, with short brown hair that reached her shoulders, and sky blue eyes, and pale skin. She wore silver breast plate armor, and her outfit was completely crimson red, including her shirt, combat skirt, and short coat. with red shoes, and white socks. Strapped to her waist was a sword called Crimson Lotus, which was all shades of red, and the hilt were like leaves, and in the middle was a symbol revealing a lotus flower. "I'm a solo player, though I think I'm reaching the limits. My title nickname is the 'Crimson Maiden.' My name is Megumi."

"Thanks for saving us." thanked Silica.

"I'm sure glad you got here when you did." stated Lisbeth.

"Phew, I'll say, I mean, boy oh boy was that ever a close one." stated Agil.

"Yeah. I'm just glad it's over for right now." nodded Diabel.

"Aye." agreed Mataras, "Although I doubt PoH can do anything now, with most of his gone. He might also be the only one who could actually hurt anyone." he opened his menu and passed out health potions to everyone.

To everyone's surprise, when Akira got one for Asuna, she started crying uncontrollably in Kirito's arms. "Asuna, what's the matter?" Kirito softly asked.

"I'm so sorry…" she cried. "It's all my fault… If it hadn't been for me, Kuradeel wouldn't have…" she then starred hiccuping with her tears. "I… should… stay away from all of you… for your sakes."

"No don't say that!" Akira stated, "You're a part of our family now. We can't just let you go and walk away like that."

"But I" her words were cut off when Kirito raised her chin and give a kiss in the mouth. She seemed to resist at first, but then melted into the embrace. Megumi only widened her eyes, while the guild widened their eyes, and jaw dropped. They knew the chemistry between the two, but none of them were to expect it so soon. Though it wasn't a surprise that there emotions would come like this after something life threatening like that.

When they finally separated, Kirito bowed his head down against Asuna's, "My life belongs to you… until the end. I'll make sure you get back to the real world."

Asuna did the same with tears of joy, when Kirito asked if he stay with her for the night, Mataras intervened and stated the two should be married first, and was really serious about the subject. The trio argued a bit but realized he was right. Mataras then reviled that he cared about her, and Kirito confirmed it.

Sachi soon found her voice and said, "Oh will you two get married already?!"

"Hunh?!" exclaimed the two.

"Why not? If your plan to be together until death do you part, we don't have a problem with you being together." Mataras said, with the guild nodding in agreement. Kirito, and Asuna realized that he mean just in-game married, but IRL too.

The two looked at each other, and involuntarily, remembered all the adventures they had together. And right then and their, they knew the answer to the question.

The group smiled, as Kirito bent one knee down and spoke the immortal words. "Asuna, will you marry me?"

"Yes, Kirito, I will marry you." with equally replied said Asuna, "with everything that I am, I will stay by your side."

"And we will be their to make sure to be the shield and sword you deserve." Akira said as the group surrounded them and smiled, including Megumi.

"What do you plan to do for your honeymoon?" asked Silica.

Akira then recalled seeing a little log cabin in a village on Floor 22 where the two could live. Asuna let Mataras, and Sachi stay in her room in Selmburg, on Floor 61. One more thing still need to be done. Inform Heathcliff about what happened.

Kirito, Asuna, and Akira went to Heathcliff, told him a bout the ambush, and what happened afterwards.

While Megumi joined the rest of the guild to their guild hall on Floor 48.

"Welcome to our guild hall, Megumi." said Sachi as everyone spread out, heading to different areas of the building. Some went to the sitting room, others went to the bedrooms, and Asuna went into the kitchen.

Megumi went after Silica, who was holding Pina tightly after the experience that happened earlier that day. She looked like she could use a friend.

She watched her head into her room and closed the door, and Megumi knocked a moment later. Silica appeared again, and welcomed her in.

"I know something like that must've been pretty terrible, are you going to be alright." asked Megumi as Silica went to the balcony.

"I think so, at least, it wasn't like what happened with Pina over two years ago." said Silica, as she wiped away her tears.

"Is that so?" asked Megumi.

Silica nodded and explained how it happened to when she met Akira, and the guild to eventually joining The Moonlit Black Cats.

Megumi smiled at he resolve, and remembered that not all guilds were invincible, in fact, they nearly lost their leader to Laughing Coffin.

"Did this guild ever have any casualties before?" asked Megumi.

Silica nodded, and stated that before she joined, the original members, who were friends of Sachi's, died in combat, and the leader, committed suicide.

Megumi soon realized, that they treat each other like family, and decided to drop the subject, and changed out of her coat, and armor, and removed her sword. As she did, Silica asked, "So what will you do now? Kirito, told us solo players have hard times working on Floor 17 and higher, are you going back on your own?"

This surprised Megumi, sure she was solo, but it was only when she had a case or a problem. She was actually more a team player, and worked in parties from time to time. The guild carried an air of companionship. Megumi knew she had reached the limit, and couldn't go on much further, and decided to join a guild, but she didn't which one, until she saw Kuradeel secretly following them, and acted almost like one the Cats. She even had her sword, Crimson Lotus, maintained as well. She then turned to her and smiled. "I think I've reached the limit of what a solo player can do actually. I planned on joining a guild before the next boss raid, and stick with them until it was all over." she explained.

This made Silica feel better, as she smiled back, and remembered why she was happy, their leader was getting married.

A knock came from the door, and Liz came in with a cart. "Hey, want me to take your weapons?" she asked. "I'll get them restored for the battle." Megumi nodded and handed her sword to Liz, along with Silica. Liz had just put the weapons in the cart, when she remembered something.

"Akira messaged me, a wedding is going to be held for Kirito, and Asuna on Floor one in Tolbanna." she told them.

Megumi heard of it, that was were the assault team was born, she wasn't ready to leave the town of beginnings back then, but was there when they set off.

"When?" asked Megumi.

Liz smiled, and was happy for her friend, as she replied, "7pm this evening." she responded. With that, she took her cart and left the room.

The 'wedding' was attended by maybe a hundred players or more, half of which came from the front lines, the wedding would help boost the morale of the members, and give hope for the players who couldn't help. Akira saw Klein, Ren, Kibaou, and Heathcliff, with his elite members in the crowd.

Kirito and Asuna said their 'I do's' and were officially in-game married, as the crowd cheered, some shedding tears of joy. But the excitement wasn't done yet, Heathcliff then called up Diabel, and gave him a medal of honor for starting the Raid parties, causing more cheers than ever.

Akira smiled at this. "This is one of the biggest events to have ever happened." he said to himself.

"We're allowing The Moonlit Black Cats to have a break from the front lines, I know smaller guilds are like family, so something like this deserves sometime to recover." Heathcliff said.

"Thank you sir, we'll try to make it in time for the next boss raid." Akira replied.

The guild went off into smaller groups, Agil went back to Algade on Floor 50 to work at his shop. Liz, and Diabel went to work at Liz's smith shop, on Floor 48, along with Akira, Megumi, and Silica. Mataras, and Sachi went to stay in Selmburg. Finally, Kirito and Asuna went to have their honeymoon on Floor 22, called, Coral.

Silica watched Akira as he tried to cook something but didn't do so well, "This isn't really good." he muttered as Silica chuckled.

"I guess some things aren't meant to be." she said. Akira sighed, as the two joined Megumi, and asked her if would like to join. Megumi agreed and became a member.

Akira soon started reading the weekly swordsman, an information sheet provided by the info brokers, one headline caught his eye, 'Dual Wielder Kirito missing from front lines!'

"I guess Argo didn't say anything for once." said Akira.

"Yeah. But it's creepy how she knows everyone in the game." Silica nodded, and Pina chirped.

The trio decided to turn in, although it was still 7pm.

Megumi stayed in Silica's room, as she stayed with with Akira in his room. Akira knew she might get some nightmares about Kuradeel, and Akira would support her.

While Silica, and Pina were slowly beginning to fall asleep, Akira stared at the ceiling. _I'm getting a strange feeling something big is going to happen soon. Mom, I promise I'll be extra careful from now on._

 **Silica: Congratulations you two.**

 **Kirito: Thanks, but it looks like we're splitting up a bit.**

 **Akira: Actually, we're going to be having some time for ourselves, so you can make progress, for Mataras, and Sachi, check his … 'of Aincrad series.**

 **Asuna: So what happens next?**

 **Akira: We'll find out soon enough.**

 **Liz: True on that.**

 **Author: Next Time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 12: Birth of a Dragon Tamer, Rise of the Crimson Maiden.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 12: Birth of a Dragon Tamer, Rise of The Crimson Maiden**

It had been a few days since Kirito, and Asuna's wedding, and Diabel's award ceremony, Silica woke up and changed into her usual set of casual clothes, mainly a sky blue sleeveless shirt, and a black skirt. She turned to she if Akira was all set, but when he woke up, his body felt weak.

"Akira, we may be taking a break but you shouldn't be still in bed." sighed Silica in a pout, but when Akira turned to her, he looked like he was breathing irregularly. She then wondered, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but suddenly I feel really weak. Almost like I not feeling well." explained Akira. Hearing this the duo decided to contact Argo and ask what was wrong with him.

Argo replied in her message, 'Akira might have a cold IRL, some players are known to have those now and then.' The two frowned, and realized one thing which the two agreed on, Akira was taking a sick day.

Akira went back to sleep, as Silica informed her guild mates about the situation and would nurse him until his body back IRL recovered.

Silica then calls for Pina, and instructs her to look after Akira, and to call when he wakes up, while she makes him some porridge for when he awakes.

She had just set the timer for her breakfast when Megumi came out.

"Good Morning, Megumi." greeted Silica.

"Hey Silica, where's Akira?" responded Megumi.

"He's in bed. He got a cold IRL, and it's affecting him here as a result." Silica explained

"Oh, that's possible? That must really suck for him." Megumi remarked.

"I guess, but I'm glad that I can help him to get better." Said Silica with a smile, then she heard Pina call out, "What is it, Pina?" she called.

The two girls went upstairs and saw Akira sitting upright in his bed, and petting Pina, making the dragon put like a house cat.

Akira turned and saw the girls as they came in. "Hey their, Silica. Morning Megumi." he said.

"Hey Akira." greeted Megumi.

"You getting hungry?" asked Silica, like a nurse tending to her patient.

"A little bit, but yeah." he replied.

Silica nodded and went down to get some breakfast ready, with Pina flying behind her.

Megumi went over to Akira, and spoke. "How do you feel?" she asked.

Akira shrugged as he answered. "Well I feel fine, but my avatar definitely isn't."

Megumi chuckled, "Well even warriors get sick once in a while, and your no exception." she said.

The clatter of dishes was heard as Silica came back up, she was carrying a tray of three bowls, along with three neatly stacked cups, while surprisingly, Pina carrying a large pot of tea.

She put the tray on the bed and passed out a bowl of porridge to Akira. Megumi was also given one, before she sat in her own chair.

Pina sat on the bed after placing the pot on the tray. and as the dragon cooed at Megumi, she laughed. "Hey Silica? How did you meet Pina? I'm a bit curious." asked Megumi.

"Now that you mention it, I'm pretty curious myself." nodded Akira.

Silica grinned at the memory, and started to think back upon that day.

 **Flashback**

Two years ago, on the thirtieth floor, Silica was in a party of players, they were on a quest to find a missing child for an NPC in town, the child was supposedly kidnapped by a horde of goblins. Silica led the way as she checked her map to the dungeon, making sure they didn't get lost. Her teammates were mostly people in her late teens or early adult years.

The five mid-level players carefully traversed into the caverns were the child was kept hostage. From the Weekly Swordsman, this floor was just as trap set as floor 27, Silica led the group on a narrow ledge as they carefully moved passed, when the first trap was triggered. A small section that Silica was standing on broke off, as she sank down into the abyss below.

When she finally stopped, she panted and rubbed her behind as she got to her feet. "Ouch! I'm gonna feel that when I get back IRL." she muttered to herself, when she messages asking if she was alright. She replied that she was fine, and to let them go on ahead, for she'll catch up.

Once she was finished, Silica went to her map, and continued down the path, and found a lair of eyes inside the cavern, she couldn't see well, and used a skill for a torch to lighten up the place a bit. As she stepped into the center of the cave, she heard a load roar, thinking it to be the goblins, she drew her Ebon Dagger thinking, _I'm dead meat_ , but what appeared instead, was a ferocious black dragon with a wild frill, red eyes, black skin, and large wings, but the creatures roar was more of a burble.

The dragon's name then popped up, The Jabberwocky. Silica was petrified, and could only do one thing, steel herself for a fight.

The battle was intense, while the Jabberwocky used its tail, and fire breath, along with catching claws, and biting jaws, Silica dodged, and struck back dealing the creature damage. The creature roared in fury as it charged its breath attack, while Silica, used her skills as a dagger user to move and avoid the attacks and seek shelter behind some stones, and prepare for her next attack.

What she saw however when got to her hiding place, was a small smooth stone with a crack, and as she got closer, more cracks were coming. It was then Silica realized that it was an egg, and it was about to hatch. Soon, a small creature appeared in the form of a small blue feathered dragon with two tail feathers sticking at the end. The creature also had red eyes, two wings, and legs with a stubby pair of arms. The dragon sniffed Silica as it staggered to its feet, and flew around her, making Silica giggle. Soon a burble like roar from The Jabberwocky brought her back to reality.

The hatchling then stopped in front of her and landed on Silica's shoulder, and started purring. Silica soon got a window stating that the creature wanted to be her pet, and asked if it will friend her.

Silica and realized that she found a secret quest in taming creatures from an info broker, but never thought she would find and complete it. So after some thought, she hit the yes button, and was asked to give the dragon a name.

Silica thought about it, and decided to name her dragon after pet cat IRL, Pina. When it was done, a small HP bar appeared under own.

She was given a quick look into Pina's abilities as the two had to face The Jabberwocky which was angry, because she then realized that her friend Pina, was going to be the monsters dinner. So, Silica struck at the creature as the creature tried to strike like a snake using its venom. She grabbed onto the creatures neck and used a dagger skill to strike into the creatures neck, making The Jabberwocky roar in agony as its HP dropped, Silica's was dropping as well, it reached the red zone when she hit the creature's head with another skill. Silica flipped back and sliced the creature right down the neck and gasped in joy as The Jabberwocky flickered and exploded into pixels.

Collapsing from the strain, Silica gave out a sigh of relief and her new friend Pina, the dragon fired a breath of healing magic that helped Silica regain some of her HP. Silica realized her familiar was a healing dragon, and could get stronger with this kind of ability.

"Silica!" her eyes squinting as she came out of the dungeon and finding her party members using their tracking skills in the menus.

"What?! You guys? Where were you?" asked Silica.

"We did the quest. The goblins weren't that hard for some reason though." explained one of the players, wielding a mace.

"Oh! Well I ended on a completely different quest and fought against a huge black dragon called The Jabberwocky." And she explained what afterwards when the group was separated. They were shocked, needless to say.

"And now I have a familiar tagging along with me." finished Silica, as she pointed to the dragon now resting on her head.

"This little dragon? It's so cute!" exclaimed a female member of the party.

"Silica?" said the leader of the party, "You should be proud of yourself. You did a quest on your own, and tamed a dragon familiar, not to much taking on a boss on your as well. You did very well, especially since this is your first MMO." He smiled.

 **End Flashback**

Akira and Megumi were in awe struck, learning she fought against The Jabberwocky from the Alice in Wonderland book series. This make Akira curious about one last thing. "Hey Megumi, how did you earn your title as 'The Crimson Maiden'?" he asked.

Megumi explained that after the players cleared the fiftieth floor, that she decided to head out to the higher floors in a party, and eventually got the Crimson Lotus Sword, afterwards, she went solo and did pretty well, until they heard of Laughing Coffin's location and went to join in the fight to stop them. She then revealed she foughtt against some members who resisted capture and tried to escape only to be struck down by her and a boy in red with a fire dragon.

Akira then realized, "Megumi, that was Mataras you fought with the stop the remnants from fleeing the scene." he said, and the group chuckled known that because of his actions as The Red Swordsman, that the trio were now in the same guild.

Akira smiled, and the three knew he would get better in no time.

 **Kirito and Mataras: REALLY?!**

 **Akira: What? I always figured Silica should battle against something fro literature, plus the creatures design is from the version done by Tim Burton.**

 **Megrim: I found it cool.**

 **Silica: Me too.**

 **Kirito: Makes sense.**

 **Matures: So what happens now?**

 **Akira: We get another member of the family.**

 **Author: Next Time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 13: The Girl of Morning Dew.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 13: The Girl of Morning Dew**

Akira stretched his arms as he woke up, and got out of the bed, he felt so much better this morning, and glad to get back in action, he was wearing a modern Chinese style night shirt and pants for pajamas, Silica peacefully yawned from the bed. "Morning Akira. Are you feeling better?" she asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Yeah. I'm feeling much better now." grinned Akira, as he gave her a thumbs up.

The two were soon joined by Megumi, and the trio changed into their casual clothes. Megumi was wearing a short sleeved crimson red shirt, and her red combat skirt, along with red socks, and red shoes. Akira was wearing his Azure blue vest, bandaged shirt, pants, and bandaged leg socks and black shoes. Silica was wearing a sky blue sleeveless top shirt, and black skirt. The trio then had some breakfast, which was a full english breakfast that Silica had attempted to make, except for baked beans, but it was really good.

After cleaning themselves up, all three sat on the sofa in the sitting room. Megumi was reading the Weekly Swordsman, Silica was drinking a cup of tea, and Akira was playing a lute, upping up his skill in playing a musical instrument.

Just then, a knock came from the door, and Akira went to get it. When he opened the door, it revealed some familiar faces, Mataras, his familiar, Litrosh, Sachi, Diabel, Agil, and Lisbeth, their guild mates.

"Hey guys, come on in." welcomed Akira.

The group had a good time during their reunion, and got pictures of Asuna, and Kirito during their honeymoon, and by the look of it, the two were having a good time. Matures then mention that they needed some help with something and asked for them to come.

"Let's go and see them." suggested Akira, "I'm pretty sure we can give them their wedding presents when we see them."

"Yeah, that sounds great! What do you think, Pina?" Silica asked her feathered dragon which chipped in approval.

"Well then, in that case. We better get moving." suggested Mataras. Everyone nodded, and headed out to Floor 22.

"So what did they find exactly?" asked Sachi as the guild walked through the forest of Floor 22. It was still early in the morning, and the sun was up for only half an hour now. All of them were wearing their signature outfits, minus the armor and weapons they normally carried, but stored in their inventory, and ready to be equipped at the instant of attack. Litrosh and Pina were napping on their masters heads.

"I don't know, what do you think Mataras?" Disable asked.

Matures only shook his head, "All the message said was that they found a person who may need our help." he replied with a frown. "And here I am hoping that it is not someone with a job, I was getting used to having some vacation."

"If it is a job, then shouldn't Kirito and Asuna had it done it themselves?" asked Agil.

"No, I don't think so, they're on their honeymoon, and wouldn't want to be bothered by something like this right now." stated Diabel.

"That's fair." nodded Lisbeth, "Still,… I wonder what is so important that they asked all of us to come down here all of a sudden."

"Only one way to find out." suggested Akira. Matures was hoping that it didn't have to do with violence for several more days.

But it turned out to be something,or in this case, someone, entirely different, which made it worse for Mataras, but not for the other guild members, as they saw a young innocent girl, she had the most adorable face, pale skin, grey eyes, and long flowing black hair. Her outfit was a simple white dress. "Yui, these are your Aunts, Silica, Lisbeth, Sachi, and Megumi, and your Uncles, Mataras, Akira, Diabel, and Agil." said Asuna with a charming smile.

"Wait, wha…?" sputtered Mataras, as the little girl looked up at him a little shy. "Uncle,…? Wait, _what?_ " Matures then took a step back involuntary while the others smiled brightly and went to say hello to the little girl.

Everyone greeted her with open arms, and got to know her better, but none were more happier than Sachi. "Hi, Yui!" she said with a smile as she hugged her, "You're such a cute little girl! Now where did these two ever find such an adorable one like you?" You returned the hug awkwardly and looked at Asuna with a stare that said, "Help Me! I don't know how to deal with this!" Matures was thinking the exact same thing.

Kirito was grinning as Akira and Mataras walked over to him and whispered, "Hey Kirito? What's going on here? Why is Asuna having this little girl call us her Aunt's and Uncles'? You do realize that Mataras said himself that he doesn't do well with kids." said Akira, as Mataras nodded in agreement rapidly.

"Calm down you guys." said Kirito in defense. "She's the one we told you about. She lost her memory, and we might need help to find out who her parents might be. I mean, she's too young to have logged in by herself, which is what Asuna, and I figure."

"What about the part about her calling me uncle…?" slowly demanded Mataras.

"Well… the thing is when we found her, she had already passed out." answered Kirito, "We noticed pretty quickly that she didn't have a cursor at all on her,- might be a system glitch. And when she woke up a little while ago, she lost her memory, plus she couldn't pronounce our names. So now she calls me her 'Daddy', and Asuna her 'Mommy'. The trio looked over at Asuna, who was happily beaming at the little girl as she warmed u[p to the guild, who were all delighted to meet Yui, especially Sachi. She looked happier than anyone had ever seen.

Matures had only thought come to mind as he saw how attached Asuna was already to Yui. "Well, this is going to end on a sour note." He muttered, and got scolded by Akira, and smacked on the back of the head by Kirito as a result.

Later, when everyone sat down to have lunch, Akira noticed Yui staring at Mataras while having a spicy sandwich, making his friend nervous. Akira knew he didn't do well with young children, and after learning from him about his family who were deceased, that he would leave it to his younger sister, a girl named, Victoria. But Yui continued to stare at him with unusually intelligent eyes.

Asuna was talking to Lisbeth when she noticed what was going on. "Yui, sweetie, it's rude to stare at people. You're making your Uncle Mataras very nervous, and uncomfortable."

You turned to Asuna and cocked her head to one side, "But he seems really sad about something. I was wondering what it was so I could help make it go away." Matures was only wide eyed at Yui, while the others smiled and laughed.

Later on, Yui was playing 'tag' with Silica, Pina, and Litrosh while Sachi was watching over them, while The Moonlit Black Cats were able to discuss about the child. "So…" sighed Asuna.

"So?" stated Kirito, "What are we going to do? She's a blank state with no memories at all."

The others felt sorry for the little girl, it would drive a person to go insane if something like that happened to them.

"It's almost like she's a baby again," said Asuna as she tried not to cry. "I just… I'm sorry, you guys… I just don't know what to do." The others looked approvingly at Kirito as he clasped Asuna's hand.

"I know how you feel." said Kirito, "It's weird, but seeing how we met her and all, but it feels like our cabin really has become a home." He smiled briefly, "But it's a catch twenty two, we need to get back on the assault team, and clear the game for everyone, including Yui."

"That explains why you called us down her." understood Agil. "Your vacation is done in three weeks, and if she stays any longer, it'll be difficult for you two to join back up. The front lines will be hurting without you two."

Kirito sadly nodded, and said, "I was thinking we head to the Town of Beginnings, and start our search for Yui's parents there."

Diabel agreed, "Good idea, but we better go in armed."

"Aye." nodded Mataras, "The Army runs the area down there. At first I thought it was going to be something stupid, but now I actually want to fight someone, I was getting bored of all this vacation. It made me feel lazy."

"And The Red Swordsman is back!" chuckled Akira.

"Oh yes, before we forget. Our guild have some wedding presents for the two of you." said Mataras as he accessed his menu handing the the two couple of bundles, and a small box.

Asuna unfolded her bundle of clothes to have a new white coat with black trimmings and a silver chest armor the coat reached her feet, and was basically a trench coat.

Kirito's was the exact same, but was the opposite with it being black, with white trimmings. Instead of chest armor, it was a silver buckle to hold his two swords in place and shape of an X. His coat was basically an updated version of his Black Wyrm coat, merged with a coat from The Knights of the Blood Oath. and in the box was a ring to increase Kirito's speed by 20 to keep up with Asuna.

The two were wondering where they got all these items, and the guild explain they borrowed the coat, and purchased a coat from the KOB, and sent them to tailor to merge and change to have Kirito's color theme to match each other, and the ring was from a monster drop, and hasn't been seen since Gridlock was sent to prison. The two thanked their friends for the gifts.

As soon as the Cats stepped down from the Teleport Gate on Floor 1, memories flowed into their minds, remembering Kayaba's announcement, and what happened afterwards.

Kirito remembered becoming a Solo Player.

Asuna remembered crying herself to sleep in a inn.

Agil remembered crying out in an uproar.

Liz remembered crying in fear.

Silica remembered her scream starting the outcry.

Sachi remembered being comforted by her computer club.

Diabel remembered also being the outcry.

Megumi remembered crying on the streets in fear.

Mataras remembered his promise to take down Kayaba with his sword.

Akira remembered sighing sadly, and slowly walking out out of the town, and also remembering his promise to his mother that he would survive.

Then it hit Mataras like a train, they all heard him before, but when and where was the question. Kirito was still holding Yui on his back, giving the the little girl a piggyback as they searched for clues.

Before any of them could do anything, a person cried out, "Leave those children alone!" The guild instantly ran towards the sound and found an alleyway where the voice came from.

When the the group arrived, they saw a young woman in front of a bunch of men from the ALF, or the Army for short, threatening them with a need to pay taxes. The entire group turned to see the Cats right behind them wondering what was going on.

When one member of The Army came to explain what was going on, The Cats backed off as Mataras sprang in and started fighting The Army, basically taking them down like bowling pins. This was going to be a while.

"Well, Yui, it looks like we're going to be here for a while." grinned Asuna, "Your uncle sure is a tough cookie isn't he?… Uh… Yui?" Asuna seemed confused when Yui reached to the sky with hand.

"Everybody's hearts are…" whispered Yui, "Everyone's hearts…" Her eyes widened and then instant shut tight as she clasped her hands to her head, curling up into a ball, concerning the Cats. "I was never here… in this place…" Yui squeaked, "I was all alone… in the dark…" She gasped in pain before screaming out to the heavens as static came out in a high pitched scream.

Everyone covered their ears, including Asuna, and Kirito. The same went for the children standing near Lisbeth, and Diabel, for the cry was quite loud.

Mataras was out of range when Yui started screaming and noticed her beginning to fall off Kirito's back onto the ground.

"Asuna!" cried out Liz, "Yui's about to fall off!" this outburst helped Asuna regain herself and moved in to catch her, and cradle Yui in her arms. The others than rushed over to join her, all fixed with concern.

"What's happening to her?" asked Akira as the little looked to Asuna, with eyes blearing out.

"Mommy,…" Yui said in crying voice, "I'm scared." And then, she passed out.

"My God…" Kirito said in shock, "Yui…"

As the others tried to rouse the little girl up, Akira turned to Mataras as the two were thinking the exact same thing. _Yui, just who are you?_

 **Silica: That was crazy.**

 **Akira: Yeah, but at least the children are okay from the Army.**

 **Asuna: I just hope Yui is going to be okay.**

 **Kirito: Yeah, me too.**

 **Mataras: Aye, I have a question to ask her when she wakes up.**

 **Akira: We'll find out soon, I hope.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 14: Yui, and The Knight of Azure Flames.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 14: Yui, and The Knight of Azure Flame**

By then time Yui, had regained consciousness, the Cats were in a church where many children were living during their time in Aincrad. The runner of the place is the same person they saved the other day, she was young woman named Sasha, and was around her young adult years, nearly 19-20 years old. She had red hair, blue eyes, and wore glasses. Sasha also wore a blue dress, with a white collar. She ran the church, and used it as an orphanage.

"This place is certainly busy." said Akira, "Is it always like this, Sasha?" he asked seeing young sitting down and having lunch, and chattering away. While Mataras, went to end corner of the room, and sat down, looking away from the children, mainly because he wasn't good with handling children. His eyes were darting around the room, focusing on The Cats, Yui, and Sasha.

"Yes, sad to say." replied Sasha, "I was on the front lines myself until Floor 20. Since I live down here, I couldn't help but feel sad for the children down here. So I rented this church and used it as an orphanage."

"That's so sad." said Asuna, looking around. "Well, at least the children seem fine."

"Yeah, it's pretty hard for all of them, most of them logged on without their parents." sadly said Sasha. "But we manage to get by well enough, and they're safe here. Speaking of which…" She then turned to Yui who staring at Mataras, but didn't seem to like the attention. "How's Yui doing?"

Before anyone could respond, Yui jumped onto Mataras and started playing with him, despite his demands of Yui letting him go, she reused to do so until he smiled. This caught the guild by surprise including Sasha, as the group all starting laughing at the two's antics. The other children noticed as well, and started to laugh as well. Sadly for Mataras, he was really embarrassed about the situation, and had enough, and looked over to Kirito. "Brother, unless you want me to tell Dagger your new home address, you get her off me right this instant." he growled.

"Oh come on," grinned Kirito, "Not even you would- nope, forget it, you definitely would." Moving over, he picked up Yui from Mataras's back, and placed back in her seat, "Maybe some other time, Yui. He'll smile eventually."

"Humph!" scowled Mataras as he returned to his chair and continued his breakfast after fixing his shirt.

"Did I make him mad, Auntie Sachi?" asked a puzzled Yui.

"No sweetheart, he's just always grouchy." grinned Sachi at her brother, who simply ignored her. "But your Daddy's right, he just needs time." Mataras soon mustered something very quietly that when Asuna asked him to repeat, he said it was nothing.

Kirito then turned to Sasha, and replied, "She's just fine. But have you ever seen her before in this town? We're trying to find her parent or guardian after we found her wondering in a forest on Floor 22. She's lost her memory, and doesn't remembered what happened to her."

Sasha negatively shook her head, "I haven't seen her before, not even once." she answered, "I go wandering around the streets everyday looking for any new children, and I never saw her before until now. It's only been 3 months since I found anyone new, but I think that these are all 12 year old kids here."

Before anyone could say or do anything, a knock came from the door. Mataras went and answered the door, with Akira at his six. Everyone inside went completely quiet, as Mataras opened the door. Standing outside was a woman with long silver hair, and dressed in the casual Army uniform. "Are you two Mataras, and Akira of the Moonlit Black Cats?" she asked.

"Yes we are." nodded Akira, "And who are you?"

"My name is Yulier. I happen to be the Vice Commander of The Aincrad Liberation Army. I personally came to thank you for what you did with those men in our guild." she said, bowing in front of the two.

"Um, you want to say that one again?" asked Mataras.

"I will go into full detail if I could speak with your guild leader." said Yulier. "I need your help."

Akira turned to the back of the with Mataras, "Hey Kirito, the Vice Commander of the Army wants to speak with you." said Akira, "She's not armed, and said it's important."

Kirito nodded and allowed her to come in.

Yulier, then explained her problem and Akira growled at the one behind it all, Kibaou. She really wanted to rescue Thinker, and needed their help. Yulier was practically bowing with tears coming down, she was desperate. The Cats nodded in agreement, and decided to help Yulier in rescuing Thinker. She was very grateful for it.

The plan was set for Agil, Liz, Silica, Pina, and Diabel, to stay at the orphanage, while Akira, Mataras, Sachi, Yui, Litrosh, Yulier, Kirito, and Asuna went to The Black Iron Palace's underground dungeon to rescue Thinker.

Kirito was equipped with his unique skill, Dual-Wielding. Mataras had his Dragon Blood active. Sachs had her unique skill called Pure Heart, which made her immune to any allayment status. Akira had Azure Flame active also, but mostly they trio went and did the fighting as they fought monster frogs.

Yulier was in awe struck as the boys used their swords, and skills to take out the frogs one by one, with Asuna standing next to and Sachi, with Yui, waving her hands up and down, cheering her father, and uncles, and Litrosh sitting on her head. Mataras had given his dragon strict orders to protect her. Yulier wasn't sure if she should help until Asuna, explained that the boys really wanted to let out some steam, and to let them have their fun.

When the boys came back, Kirito asked if she could cook up some of the food they got, raw frog legs, Asuna refused as the two began to bicker at one another, Sachi smiled, and Akira grinned, while Mataras went into a face palm. Yulier was overwhelmed in the situation that she started laughing at the whole event.

"Hey!" exclaimed an excited Yui. This cause the others to get her attention, "This is the first time I've seen you smile! It's a nice smile." she said. This caused Yulier to smile once more.

Yui then looked over to Mataras, who had a neutral look. However, she saw a shine in his eyes. "I think a smile makes a lot of people feel better, don't you think uncle?"

"That would depend on the person who is wearing the smile." replied Mataras, as he turned to resume the journey, however, Sachi and Akira noticed a small grin coming from his face.

The group continued down the dungeon for a few more hours when they saw Yulier pull out her map to where Thinker might be located, believing him to be in a safe zone, since he hasn't moved from this area for a couple of days.

Akira soon held his hand up to stop everyone, "Guys? Where did all the monsters disappear to?" he asked.

Everyone except Mataras, wondered what he meant, "If this place is so hard, then how come we haven't seen any mobs in this area?" continued Akira.

Yulier, then stated that maybe this whole corridor was a safe zone, but Akira had doubts when Mataras spoke up. "If this area was a safe zone, then shouldn't their be a ripple in the air?"

Soon, everyone realized what the two meant. "The only time we see a cleared out area in a dungeon normally leads to one thing; A boss!" stated Mataras.

Suddenly, the group ducked from being hit by what was revealed to be a massive scythe, and they saw what owned it. It was a massive skeleton with red eyes, dressed in a black robe that floated in the air like a phantom, in height the creature measured around twenty meters. The group's eyes all widened showing the HP bar was unknown, and the name even more so, 'The Fatal Scythe'. It appeared as the Grim Reaper himself descended into Sword Art Online.

"Be careful! That boss belongs on Floor 90 or higher!" said a voice in a nearby room, and all ran in, the man was wearing the same uniform as Yulier, and had tannish skin with short curly brown hair. Yulier instantly recognized him as the leader of the Army, Thinker. She embraced him as the others formed their game plan.

"Thinker! Yulier! I want you two to take Yui and teleport back in town! Litrosh stay with her no matter what!" command Mataras, he then turned to his companions, as they prepared to fight the boss.

The group tried to black the attack only to be sent flying and their HP dropping dangerously low, and scattered into pairs while Akira was sent towards the entrance to the safe zone, and his sword was already inside. He saw his companions, his family, with their HP in either the yellow zone or the red zone, and got angry. Akira painfully got up, rolling onto his hands and knees.

 _They're in trouble, I've got to help them. They've always had my back, so I'm going to to do the same._ thought Akira, as he got up he activated his unique skill, and something special happened. His body erupted in flames and when he appeared, his hair was light blue, and his eyes were fire blue. his scarf changed to look like wings, and flames flowed around his body. This made Akira realize one thing, his Unique skill was maxed out. Then he felt a tug on his arm. "Yui." said Akira, "You need to go with Yulier, and Thinker to get somewhere safe."

"Don't worry Uncle Akira." replied Yui, who had a small smile. "It'll be okay. Take this sword." Akira soon noticed a large red blazing sword appear in her hands, and was handed to him.

"Are you sure that this blade will defeat it?" asked Akira.

"Yes. Litrosh will be able to help you out as well." replied Yui. Akira was about to ask what she meant when the duo heard a load roar, and a ball of flame flying right at the boss, and burst forth revealing a fully grown version of Mataras' dragon. Leaving them in awe.

"I'll explain everything soon, Akira. Use the sword to defeat the boos, or everyone here will die." said Yui, extremely worried for her parents. "One hit will do it."

"I trust you, Yui." replied Akira, as he prepared to strike, "just promise me you'll explain everything when this is over with." Akira then charged in to help Litrosh, and save his friends.

The scythe had just slapped the dragon onto the ground was about to finish the job until he noticed Akira charging at him with most of his body covered in flames, and wielding a huge red fire sword. This gave the dragon time to get out of their and Akira the chance to strike. The blade landed on the reaper right through the middle.

From where Kirito and the others were, they could swear that they saw fear in the eyes of the boss, almost like seeing a knight from the past return and continue his sworn duty. Flames swirled around the creature as it was consumed in fire, until disappearing into sparks, revealing Akira, without a sword, and still glowing with blue fire all over his body as he returned to normal. Mataras was in awe at the sight of his dragon, now fully grown, resembling the dragon from The Pagemaster, but with orange and red scales. "Akira, what happened?" asked Kirito.

"I don't really know." replied Akira, and turned to Yui. "But I get the feeling that Yui might be able to explain."

All six members of the guild that helped out Yulier, were in the safe zone that Thinker was hiding in for two days. Since Litrosh was now a full grown dragon, he couldn't go in and waited outside for his master and his friends to come out. Yui was sitting on a simple large rectangular pedestal that had no markings of any kind. Yui had somehow changed back into her simple white dress, she wore when Kirito, and Asuna found her in the forest. She didn't say anything for several moments, and Asuna couldn't take it anymore.

"Yui, please, say something." begged Asuna.

Yui sadly looked up at her family, and told them all she knew, "Moonlit Black Cats gathered here and now. Kirito, Asuna, Mataras, Sachi, and Akira., everything in Sword Art Online is controlled by a massive single system called Cardinal. It controls everything from monsters, to col and item drops. It was designed to do so without a human assistance, not even any help from the Game Master."

"Since the Cardinal doesn't need human help, it also has a program to deal with people's emotions, Mental Health Counseling Program 001: codenamed: Yui. That is who I am." she said in a kind soft voice, which left her family in shock.

"Your an Artificial Intelligence program, an A.I.?"

"Yes." whispered Yui, and tears started to fall from her face. She then explained that she restricted by Cardinal to stay away from the players. Soon, errors began to enter her, and she crashed, then she saw the guild living life to the fullest, having fun, and enjoying their lives in Aincrad. She wanted to meet them for so long, and wandered through the forest, and eventually how sorry she was, and started to tear up once more.

"Well, I don't care if your a program at all." stated Akira, "You are Kirito, and Asuna's daughter, not something that can be controlled by Cardinal."

"Aye." nodded Mataras, "And if you want anything, just ask."

"They're right, Yui." Kirito said. "So what do you want to have?"

"I want…" squeaked Yui, not sure what to do, "I want…" she mumbled again, looking down. Yui then looked up, held her hands out, and started to cry, "I want to be with you and Daddy! Mommy!" Asuna finally broke into tears, and rushed over to give her child a hug. Kirito joined her.

"You will, Yui," mumbled Kirito, "I promise. You'll be with us forever, as our daughter."

Mataras, then asked how Akira flew like, where he got the sword, and how Litrosh grew to his adult size. Yui then explained how Litrosh grew and the sword were doing, and Akira glowing was all on his own. Yui then revealed the pedestal was a GM console, and Akira revealed he had maxed out his unique skill during the trip in the dungeon.

"Wouldn't Cardinal notice something like this?" asked Sachi.

"Yes, if Cardinal knew I deleted the boss, but since Akira was close by, I gave him the sword. He was amazing, The Azure Swordsman, has become an Azure Knight. Still, the system will probably consider the events malfunctions, and make precautions to make it doesn't happen again." explained Yui, "So I should be safe for now."

When the group grew confused on the part she said for now, Yui, explained that when the Final Boss of Aincrad was defeated, Cardinal was programed to delete everything, since she was program she would be deleted also. The guild grew said for Yui, helpless of what to do. Then an Idea, pooped into Mataras's head. "Well, it's a good thing we got two computer experts here."

"What are saying, Mataras?" asked Sachi.

"Maybe if you can get your Father, and Aunt into the console, they can move your program into one of our NerveGears, so when the game ends, you'll be safe." said Mataras.

Sure enough, the idea soon stepped into the duo, and instantly thought the same thing. Kirito then asked her what the password was, so they could get right to work. The first thing the duo did, was move Yui's program into Kirito's NerveGear. Then the duo found a way to recognize Yui, not as an A.I and made her player of Sword Art Online, set at level 96, given a tiara, and white version of Kirito's Elucidator called Dawn Rising, and a unique skill called 'Divine Eye', an Asuna was given, 'Blitz Strike' for her maxed out speed. With all said and done, they got out of Cardinal, got on Litrosh's back, and went back to the orphanage.

When they arrived, the group reunited with the rest of the guild, and saw The Army, with Kibaou all tied up. When he saw Yui, Kibaou was about to say something mean, but Akira stepped in. "Hey, I don't know what your problem is, but I don't like it if you mess with my family like that. I appreciate it if you leave her alone." This put a stop to the spiked man and silenced him as he was sent to prison.

The Cats cheered at this and Asuna thanked Akira for defending Yui, while the little girl hugged him for his bravery. Mataras, nodded in approval for that. "I would have taught him a new meaning in sword swallowing." he said.

"Yeah, we know you for sure on that one." nodded Akira.

"Uncle Mataras, your a very strange man." stated Yui.

"Well you are going to have to get use to it." stated Mataras.

"Still, it's nice to know Kibaou won't be causing anymore trouble." stated Diabel.

"Yeah, and now you guys have your own unique skills, and we have a new member." stated Liz, "Maybe Heathcliff will want to join us."

"I doubt it." replied Mataras, and turned to look at Yui, who was waiting to see him smile.

Akira saw this, turned to Mataras, and mentioned, "You know, most of there in the dungeon, saw you shed a small grin. I think a smile would nice to see from you, as long as it's not your wolfish grin." he said, and notice Litrosh flying overhead.

Mataras soon look back at Yui, and finally gave a genuine smile, "Alright, Yui. You've earned it." he said, which made his Guild mates, and Yui, and all smile at him. Mataras, then picked up the little girl and placed her on his shoulders. "Welcome to the family, Yui."

"It's going to be great, and I can't wait to tell you guys what we learned during our trip down in the dungeon." nodded Akira.

 **Akira: Well, looks like we still have our niece.**

 **Mataras: Aye, but I am interest on the speech before.**

 **Akira: Well, the author has been doing advocating for himself. That's how I was able to stand up to Kibaou like that.**

 **Asuna: I'm just glad our little girl is staying with us.**

 **Kirito: Me too.**

 **Silica: So what happens next?**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. chapter 15: The Infernal Gateway. Wrath of the Skull Reaper.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 15: The Infernal Gateway. Wrath of The Skull Reaper.**

A week had passed since rescuing Yui, when it happened. The little girl spent a couple of days with Agil, on Floor 50, along with a couple of days with Sachi, and Mataras, on Floor 61. She also spent a couple days with Lisbeth, and Daibel at the work shop, and with Akira, Silica, Pina, Litrosh, and Megumi, on Floor 48, but most of her time was with her parents, Kirito, and Asuna, on Floor 22. When Yui, normally asked why the others told her that her parents went to bed later than she did, and she would have a hard time falling asleep, little did they tell why they went to bed later. Yui, also loved hearing stories when she went to bed from her guild mate family. But one day while Yui was spending time with her parents, and the entire guild was spending time together on Floor 48, Akira received a message from Kirito. The message read, 'Fishing Tournament-Type event happening in an hour. Wanna come and Watch?' After checking with the others, the guild headed down, none of them had anything going today anyway.

When the team arrived near the lake house, they were surprised to see everyone at the lake. "All this for a fishing tournament?" mumbled Mataras, "Seems a bit much of you ask me."

"That's true," nodded Akira, "but we came here thanks to Kirito's invitation, plus, I would like to see Yui again."

The others nodded in agreement. The group headed towards the lake the others were heading towards, and saw a familiar sight.

"Mommy, look!" cried a little girl, "It's our guild mates!" The group came over and instantly realized who was calling them, as Yui came over was giving a hug, and lifted onto Akira's back. They all soon saw Asuna, who was wearing a makeshift shawl, but could guess why.

"I take it's so you don't get any attention here?" asked Akira, as Asuna nodded as a reply.

Mataras then picked up Yui, and placed her on his shoulders. He normally never would've done this, but could so easily thanks to his high strength stat.

"So what exactly is going on, Asuna?" asked Diabel.

"Well, Kirito is helping Nishida over at the lake to try and catch a monstrous fish." explained Asuna.

"Really, just a fish?" asked Lisbeth.

"Yeah. Look over there." replied Asuna, as Nishida appeared with a huge fishing rod. As soon as the line was cast, the crowd grew quiet.

Mataras seemed pretty bored about this, "Really, we came all the way here for this?"

Yui then clamped his mouth shut and hushed him, "You'll scare away the fish." she mumbled quietly.

Akira quietly chuckled, and soon, some action happened. The crowd saw Nishida hand Kirito the rod as he was pulling something with his current strength stat. This made everyone wonder, _Did Nishida just try to a switch with a fishing pole?_

They got an answer when Kirito worked really hard to pull the fish out of the water. Whatever it was, it was really huge.

When all of sudden, Nishida and the rest of the group including the Cats, moved back away from the pier.

Kirito was wondering this until he got an answer as a huge shadow emerged from the water. This caused the line to snap.

"Kirito! Look Out!" cried Asuna, holding on to Yui.

"For what?" wondered Kirito, and boy did he get his answer, as the creature simply called 'The Big One' emerged.

Akira eyes widened at the sight of the fish, for the creature was bigger than any fish seen before. It was colored in orange-red, and had eyes as big as a goldfish bowl, and had six webbed legged feet.

Kirito ran right to the others, throwing a complain at Asuna, who was giggling at his reaction.

Akira, and Mataras, nodded at each other, and without a word, dashed at the creature, even though the creature was lumbering towards them at a decent speed.

In perfect synchronization, as the fish leapt to devour them, the duo jumped upward and delivered a powerful ax kick, and sent the monster flying into the ground, then triple backward somersaulted into a crouch.

Megumi then shot past them with her sword in hand, as her blade started glowing. She flipped into the air, spinning horizontally, and used the Sword Skill, Vorpal Strike, and skewered the monster, she stayed in the air as 'The Big One' blew up into shards and pixels.

Akira, and Mataras grinned while in their crouched positions, and gave each other a fist bump. Then the two stood up as Megumi flipped off her sword. Then the trio took a bow without a word.

"Wow…" said one player.

"That was awesome!" cried another player.

"You're with The Moonlit Black Cats right?" asked a third player.

Akira and Megumi shook hands with some of the players, while Mataras, only grunted and gave his signature wolfish grin.

"Alright, break it up, let the heroes have some air to breath." bursted Lisbeth's voice through the crowd.

The crowd soon broke into two group, who wanted to meet the three saviors of the day.

"Nice job, brother." cried both Silica, and Sachi, each to their adopted sibling.

"Well, it looks like we still got it." Akira nodded.

"Hey, was the somersaulting really needed?" asked Megumi.

"Aye, if your going to be using your feet, you might as well make the most of them." replied Mataras.

Asuna invited the guild to the cabin to have some refreshments, and enjoyed the time together when they arrived. However it was short lived when Kirito received a message from his friend, Klein. "Hey guys, we've got a problem." he said.

"What's wrong Kirito?" asked Agil.

"I just got a message from Klein." Kirito replied, "They found the Boos room for Floor 75."

"Already?" said a surprised Mataras. "That was fast."

"Well, you two can sit this one out." said Sachi smiling, "We can handle it."

Kirito shook his head as he replied, "That's just it, the entire Recon Team was wiped out."

"What?!" exclaimed Akira, while Asuna held Yui tightly.

"How did that happen?!" cried Asuna.

"I don't know the details," Kirito said heavily, "But he wants our help for the raid."

Akira was thinking while, Yui asked to come assuring them that she would be alright. _Just what kind of boss are we dealing with that took down the entire recon team?_

"They were cut off?!" exclaimed Liz, "How is that even possible, Klein?!" The guild was currently in their guild hall with Klein, and he was sharing some pretty big info on what happened, while Sachi, Silica, and Yui were making lunch.

"I dunno man," Klein replied, he then went on explaining, "All I know is that one of my guys was their when it happen, the scouting team was twenty strong, five from different guilds. When the found the boss room, ten went in as a recon group while the others stayed outside, but once the recon went inside, the doors closed up behind, half an hour passed before the doors opened up again, and the group was gone. We confirmed on the Wall of Life that the players were killed. We also had a feeling they couldn't use any crystals inside either."

"I get the feeling that from now on, every boss fight, like on Floor 74, is going to be an anti-crystal zone for the boss rooms now." stated Akira.

Klein nodded in agreement, and informed the guild that Heathcliff is forming a joint raid against the boss. It was up to them to join, but Klein desperately knew they needed all the help they can get.

The Moonlit Black Cats agreed to help, making Klein feel relieved, he thanked them and left to reunite with his guild.

Kirito then asked a question to Asuna if she could stay with Yui instead of fighting the boss, revealing he was scared, and Asuna retorted back saying she'd kill herself if something were to happen to him. Sachi went to sooth Yui while the two talked. Kirito really wanted them to be together as a family, and leave the front lines. Asuna, however, asked if they knew what was going on in the real world, leaving Kirito confused.

Mataras stepped in and revealed that after Kayaba's announcement, all the players went offline for a few hours, learning everyone in the game were transferred hospitals to be kept alive by machines, meaning everyone was on a time limit, and once it ran out, it's game over for everyone. Asuna cried out tears and wanted to be with Kirito, forever, and Kirito, found steel in his voice, and promise to do so. The guild supported them, and they headed off to Floor 75.

The next morning, the raid party assembled at the very arena, where The Moonlit Black Cats, fought The Knights of The Blood Oath, and won Asuna's freedom.

The forces were comprised of members of The Holy Dragon Alliance, The Knights of The Blood Oath, Furinkazan, Wyvern's Inferno, The Moonlit Black Cats, and at least one hundred other high level strong players.

Akira stepped off the teleportation gate, with his guild as they enter the courtyard, lots of players were wondering why a little girl was her, but couldn't ask because of two huge dragons with them, Silica had called Blizzardwing for aid in the boss fight, and came to join the battle.

Godfrey was preparing his troops for the battle when Klein and Ren came up to the Cats.

"Hey guys," greeted Akira. "It looks like were in a for a tough battle."

"Yeah, I have to prepare a strategy for the battle." replied Ren.

Klein smiled, "Don't worry, we got this." he said.

"You said it." nodded Akira.

Then a another person appeared and clad in red, It was Heathcliff, and his own personal elite soldiers.

Everyone watched the red paladin, as he held up a crystal. "Corridor Open." he commanded.

The raid stepped through the doorway and at the boss door, Akira felt a strange sensation about the room, and prepared for the worst. When they arrived, Heathcliff turned to speak to the assault team.

"The Knights of The Blood Oath, and The Moonlit Black Cats will be the forward vanguard, while we distract the dos, everyone stay back and study the boss' attack patterns." said Heathcliff clearly.

Akira widened his eyes, and looked at Kirito, know how invincible was the red Paladin, and in all honesty so did he.

"For our day of Liberation!" called Heathcliff as the doors open.

"Don't die on me guys." said Kirito, to Klein and Ren.

"Same goes to you, Kirito." replied Ren.

"Ditto from me buddy." Klein nodded.

"Forward to Battle!" cried Heathcliff.

Everyone let out battle cries as they charged to the boss, but once they entered they found nothing inside at all, not even the boss. However, the doors closed up upon entrance preventing escape. "Well, this is great." muttered Lisbeth.

A minute has passed but the boss was nowhere to be found. Soon scuttling noises started coming from around the room, and it made Akira wonder, _Where is the boss?_ He continued thinking until he thought _oh no…_

"Above us!" cried Yui, just before Blizzardwing, and Litrosh roared so loud that it rattled the room. The boss responded by crying a dry hissing sound, that terrified the whole room. The Boss was a huge centipede made entirely from bones, its skull had four mouth pieces and red eyes. Two massive blades stuck out like straight sickle scythes that attached to the lower part of the head and became arms. The boss moved down and attacked.

The name appeared, and had not four, but _five_ HP bars. "It's…" Klein started, shaking with fear.

"The Skull Reaper!" finished Kirito.

The boss came down, and dropped from the ceiling charging at the party. " _Incoming!_ " cried Akira.

Everyone backed away from fear as the creature ascended to floor, but three players were paralyzed with fear. "Come On! Run! Hurry!" cried Akira, but when they snapped out of it and started running, it was too late. The boss came right on top of them, and with it scythes knocked them into the air, and towards Kirito's group.

But to the horror of the assault team on the front lines, they bursted before hitting the ground.

Klein paled, "That was with one hit!" he cried.

"Oh man, we are so dead!" muttered Agil.

"As someone from STAR WARS would say: _I have a bad feeling about this._ " stated Akira.

 **Akira: The time has come.**

 **Silica: The 75th Floor boss.**

 **Kirito: The Skull Reaper.**

 **Mataras: Bring. It. On.**

 **Lauren: Be careful everyone.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman The Lost Fragment. Chapter 16: The truth of Heathcliff! Glitch in SAO!**

 **All: LINK START!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 16: The truth of Heathcliff! Glitch in SAO!**

The fight was unlike anything The Moonlit Black Cats, or in fact, anyone from the assault team had ever faced. The boss changed its fighting style and appearance, overtime its HP went down by a whole bar. This caused Yui, to re-examine its attacks and weaknesses, It had done so already after reaching the yellow zone.

The creature had changed from having two arms to four, and had a long tail with a blade at the end. However, the creature continued to fight, and eventually started sagging as it reached the last of its HP which was now in the red zone. Heathcliff saw this, and gave a command, "Everyone! Rush it, Now!" Ten gave out battle tactics, while Blizzardwing, Litrosh, and the players struck hard and fast at the boss. They didn't let up for a second and continued to strike at the boss.

It went for an hour until the boss let out its last hiss, and bursted into pixels.

No one cheered, instead, they all collapsed from fatigue, and exhaustion. Akira, and Megumi leaned against each other back to back.

Litrosh, and Blizzardwing landed on the ground, with Yui dismounting form the Fire dragon and rushing over to her parents. The Red Swordsman gave his familiar an exhausted smile as he petted him. "Well done, Litrosh. Well fought."

"How many did we lose?" asked Ren. The response was now going to be good.

Kirito checked his menu, and started counting all of the dots in the room, he sighed as he made the report. "Fourteen. Fourteen of us are dead."

Needless to say, everyone was shocked to hear the news, "Aw man. We haven't lost that many players since the Army nearly got wiped out on Floor 25 against The Hydra Orochi." quietly said Akira.

"Yeah. This is nuts." nodded Helios.

"We still got twenty-five more floors to go." added Klein.

"Can we even make it?" wondered Agil.

Kirito was with Asuna, and Yui recovering while the others watched their breaths.

Akira looked around and saw only one players was still standing, and in the green zone. It was Heathcliff, and he had a neutral look on his face. Akira cringed in thought, _Man, all of that and he's still standing, almost like a…_

Akira soon had a flashback to what robed man, revealing himself as Kayaba once said, 'As of this moment, I am in control of this world.' Then instantly remembering the moment before the duels, 'If you lose, you must incorporate The Moonlit Black Cats into The Knights of The Blood Oath.' Then he figured to put to two together, leading only to one thing.

Megumi turned to see Akira go a full in blazing fire, as he went in and attacked Heathcliff. Using a sword skill, Akira struck at Heathcliff, surprising him with Akira's new appearance, and the blade about to hit him, or would've.

Megumi was wondering what he did, "Akira! What are you…" her question was cut off when she saw a purple hexagon above Heathcliff, as two words appeared overhead.

IMMORTAL OBJECT.

"Commander, what is going on here?" asked a concerned Asuna.

"It's you! It was you this whole entire time!" cried Akira, he turned away, but then turned around and looked at Heathcliff.

"Something always bothered me, and my brothers-in-arms." he started.

With his own theory confirmed, Kirito stood up, "Where is he? While we were suffering, where is watching us?"

"But then we all remembered on very crucial factor." added Mataras.

"Why watch someone play in an RPG." said Diabel.

"When you can be a part of it, and play yourself." finished Akira. "Isn't that right…?"

" _Akihiko Kayaba_?" finished all four.

Heathcliff didn't seem to deny the claim and asked, "For the sake of my curiosity, how did you figure it out?"

"For me, it was during our duel. The move you made out their was _way_ too fast, despite all that armor your wearing." stated Kirito.

"Yes that was a terrible error on my part. You were so strong, and fast that I had to use my system assists function." said Heathcliff, with his eyes shut.

"While I noticed your armor, and weapons never seemed to be maintained, and looked well prepared for anything." added Diabel.

"And I believe Mataras, and I can agree on one other thing. You need to work on your acting skills. You were never tired or exhausted." Akira included.

"And enough though your appearance is different, you should've also filtered your voice. It was the same as it was when the game first started." finished Mataras.

"All of these are very good points. I guess I can't deny it. Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba, and now that I have been revealed, it's no surprise that I also happen to be the final boss of Sword Art Online." Heathcliff revealed.

Everyone was in an uproar of shock, an horror. Asuna leaned on Kirito slightly, while Mataras held Sachi to keep her from fainting. "The strongest player builds all this up, then betrays us for the final battle." said Kirito

"That's a bit cliché don't you think?" asked Akira.

"Actually, I kind of like that angle. In the end I pictured you three to be ones to face me." said Kayaba, looking straight at Kirito, "Duel-Wielding was given to the player with the fastest reaction time." He turned to Mataras, "Dragon Blood was given out at random, but I never expected it to be seen, and used like you did." He finally turned over to Akira, "And you got Azure Flame. Though to be honest, it wasn't one of the ten Unique skills I made for the game. I would have to congratulate you though, you are the first player in Sword Art Online to make history, and create an Original Sword Skill." This caused everyone, even Akira to gasp in knowing his skill was a move he made all on his own.

One thing remained however, "So, now that we know the truth, do you plan on paralyzing us, and kill us off instantly?" asked Akira. "Planing on covering this all up?"

Heathcliff smirked as he unleashed a series of commands, and all but Akira, Mataras, and Kirito were paralyzed.

"Oh no. That would simply be unfair. I plan to head up to the Ruby Palace on the 100th floor. It's a shame though, I really enjoyed watching you grow in strength. No matter." sighed Heathcliff.

"You call that unfair? How about being invincible for 75 death floors!" growled Mataras, standing next to an immobile Sachi and Liz.

"Before I go, I need to reward you for rooting me out, which is why… I'm going to give one of you a chance." said Kayaba, slamming his shield, and stood with ease. "Kirito, Akira, and Mataras, I am giving you a chance to have a one-on-one duel against me. I will naturally remove my Immortality Status."

Akira, and Mataras, both gritted their, cause they both wanted to get at him. Until Kirito spoke, "I have one request."

"What's that?" asked Kayaba.

"I don't plan on fighting you alone. So, I ask that Mataras, and Akira fight alongside with me. You made this game, and who knows what tricks you got up your sleeve." requested Kirito.

Kayaba gave his dry smile, and nodded in response, allowing the two other standing warriors to join. He opened his menu and inputed one last command, and a red hexagon appeared that said 'Changed to Mortal Object.'

"Be careful, Kirito." Prayed Asuna.

Kirito, Akira, and Mataras stood in a triangle around Heathcliff, with Kirito in the front, Mataras, and Akira on the sides, with weapons drawn.

"Come, brothers of Aincrad." said Kayaba.

Akira charged out first, and used a skill to try and hit Kayaba, only to be blocked by his shield. He continues to try and hit him, only to be deflected. "Mataras, Switch!" cried Akira.

Mataras then charged in with his Dragon Blood active, striking like a warrior with unique fighting skills, but was deflected as well. "Switch! Kirito!" called out Mataras.

Kirito lunges out and strikes but is blocked, and gets a scratch by Heathcliff, but Kirito doesn't give in, unleashes the Eclipse. As Kirito continues to hit Heathcliff, he leaps into the air, and when Heathcliff sees the opening, he prepares to strike.

Just when Heathcliff was about to attack, something starts to happen and the whole starts to get a problem, The Cardinal must've been having a problem, cause the game started to have a glitch.

Kirito continued his assault, and got stronger and faster, as Kayaba continued to glitch. Just as Kirito got both the red paladin's weapons away, and just to strike the player. The glitch's cause everything to glow, and in a flash, Kayaba had disappeared, only leaving the three brothers standing. "Is it,… over?" asked an exhausted Kirito.

Before anyone could answer, Asuna, ran up to Kirito with Yui, and hugged him crying tears, knowing he was alright. "Daddy!" cried Yui.

"Kirito!" cried Asuna.

"Asuna…" replied Kirito.

"You big idiot! That was really reckless! I so glad your okay! Kirito! Kirito!" said Asuna, crying into shoulder, happy he was alive.

Kirito return the embrace, as he hugged both Asuna and Yui, knowing that he made them both worried. "I'm sorry you two. But I'm okay. All of us are." he said calming the two down.

Akira, and Mataras nodded in agreement, but wondered what happened to Kayaba after the battle. No one knew the answer.

Klein spoke up, and congratulated the trio as they waited for anything to happen, so they could leave. Sadly, no such luck. The players were still trapped in Sword Art Online.

Agil then called out, "Hey, I see the door to the next floor."

Everyone decided to head up and check out the area. When they arrived, the team ended up in a town called Arc Sophia. This was when strange things began to happen, skills disappeared, items and skills were corrupted, and players could no longer go to the lower floors after floor 75.

"Now we're basically stuck up these upper floors." said a player sadly.

"Can we even reach the top?" asked another.

More and more players began to lose hope, including some of the guild mates of The Moonlit Black Cats.

"We can't give up now." stated Akira, which got everyone's attention. "We made it this far. I know Kayaba said if we beat him we can go home, so I believe he's waiting at the top and we can finish it properly."

"True." nodded Klein.

"I agree with Akira, I plan to have see if he's so powerful after being at the tip of my sword." stated Mataras.

The party soon realized that this chat was helping them.

"Everyone! Listen to me!" cried out Kirito.

The entire raid team stopped chattering and listened.

"There's no point in us waiting around in town, and game's starting to get unstable. We can't even return to the lower floors." he started, "However, I think we should as much progress as we can before another fatal error happens."

Asuna nodded, "Yeah, you're right. We made it this far, and our goal is to clear SAO, and return to the real world." she turned to thread party, "Come on, everyone! Let's clear this game!"

This in turn brought everyone spirits back up. The entire assault team was now more determined than ever to clear SAO. All of the players in town remembering when they started on Floor 1, and now were on Floor 76.

"The Assault Team's goal is to clear this game! So… let's push on to the 100th Floor!" Mataras called out.

The entire party calling out in cheers of hope, and determination.

"For our day of Liberation!" finished Akira in a war cry.

The entire team cried out in support, now more ready than ever to clear the game.

The coming days however were mid-level players coming onto the higher floors. However, with help from Ren, of Wyvern's Inferno, it eventually died down. One of the players, Yolko, was their as well.

When the days of mid-level players and messages to the lower floors finally died down, all the current players rented rooms and crashed for the night.

Akira looked out of his window, _Mom,_ he said to himself, _We made it to the 76th Floor, we made this far but still have a long way to go. I hope you've been doing alright, and I miss you._ Akira then went to into bed with his "adopted" sister Silica, climbed into bed, and fell fast asleep.

 **Akira: Well, that's was crazy.**

 **Kirito: Yeah. So what do we do now.**

 **Akira: I guess we'll find out soon.**

 **Mataras: Pretty soon, I imagine.**

 **Asuna: What do you mean?**

 **?: So, can I make an appearance yet.**

 **Akira: Yes, actually.**

 **Sachi: Hey, who is she?**

 **Akira: You'll see.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 17: Leafa, Sinon, and The Hollow Area.**

 **All: LINK START!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. Brandon is owned by Naruto Sakura Uzumaki. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 17: Leafa, Sinon, and The Hollow Area.**

It's been two weeks since the event that occurred on Floor 75, and things were finally starting calm down. The Moonlit Black Cats had made a new home in a bar which also worked as a hotel by Agil, in Arc Sophia. The mid-level players have stopped coming up to the higher floors, and players were working on making out the entire area of Floor 76, while looking for the Floor boss.

On this particular day, however, The Moonlit Black Cats were out enjoying a walk, when they ran into an old friend, a particular girl, she had pale skin, brown eyes, short blond hair, and had grey bandaged bands on her arms. She wore a brown shirt, and brown baggy pants, with black shoes, along with a light brown hood, and cape. This player also had three brown sashes on both of her cheeks, resembling whiskers. Kirito waved to her, "Hey Argo, what's up?" he said.

Argo smiled as he knew he would be in for a treat today. "Oh, not much their Kii-bo. Just doing my thing as an Info-Broker." she smirked in reply.

Mataras, only cringed, "You really are a rat, you know Argo." he said.

Argo only chuckled as she continued with her special info. "Have I got some juicy info for you guys." she said.

"Really, what is it?" asked Silica.

"Well, not to far from in the forest outside on the western part of Floor 76, players have been claiming to be seeing a fairy." explained Argo.

"A fairy in SAO?" asked Liz.

"Yeah." replied Argo, "and no one knows if its an A.I., or an NPC, or even, a player."

This got the attention of the guild, and all agreed to check it out. "All right, Argo." said Akira, "We'll check it out."

"Cool. See you around then." replied Argo, and walked away.

The Moonlit Black Cats were prepare to fight just in case the fairy was an enemy, and went off into the forest. When they arrived the Cats all saw, was indeed, a fairy, with tannish skin, pointy ears, and long flowing blonde hair, tied into a ponytail with a white bow. She was wearing a white shirt and a green puffed sleeved coat. A brown vest belt, white gloves with green cuffs, and green skirt. Her sword was a katana like one handed sword, with light green trimmings. The Fairy also wore white stockings and brown boots, and a small pair of green translucent wings were sticking out of her back. The group soon realized that the fairy had a green cursor over her head and HP bar, meaning she was a player.

The Cats had to be careful in case she tried to attack when she turned, and carefully moved closer, until Silica stepped on a twig causing it to snap. This caused the fairy's ears to twitch at the sound, and turn around, revealing her eyes were emerald green, and around her coat collar was a red bow. She gasped when she saw the group, "Oh! Hi, I didn't notice anyone behind me." she said, "I should be more careful."

The guild didn't know what to do, or what to say at this mysterious girl, except for one. Kirito, came up to the front, and decided to ask for her name. But when he approached her, the fairy gasped, and covered her mouth when she saw him.

"It's really you. Oh my God." said the fairy with her hands over her mouth. She hesitantly asked him, "Is that you, Big Brother?" tears were starting to form.

"Huh, Big Brother?" asked a confused Kirito, "But how would you know,…" he stopped his question dead in it's tracks when he realized who this fairy really was. "Sugu?"

The fairy revealed as Sugu, started tearing up, and sniffling at the sight of her older brother, when he asked again, "Suguha, is that really you?" asked Kirito.

Suguha, finally showed a smile and rapidly nodded, confirming Kirito's question. Kirito, surprised at this, also teared up, ran over, and give his sister a good hug. The siblings were reunited.

"I can't believe it's really you, Big Brother!" cried Suguha.

"You have no idea how much I missed seeing my little sister!" cried Kirito.

The guild soon realized that the two were indeed siblings, and started to tear up themselves, seeing this happy reunion. Soon, the siblings turned to the guild.

"Everyone." said Kirito, "I like you all to meet my little sister." he introduced.

"It's very nice to meet you, everyone." she said with a bow, "My name is Leafa."

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Leafa." replied Silica, "My name is Silica, and this is my best friend, Pina." Pina chirped to say hello.

"Hey it's nice to meet ya'. The name's Agil." said Agil.

"Hi, I'm Lisbeth, but you can call me Liz for short." replied Lisbeth.

"Hi, Leafa. My name is Yui." said Yui.

"I'm Asuna. It's very nice to meet you." replied Asuna.

"I'm called Diabel." said the Cavalier.

"I am Mataras." said The Red Swordsman.

"My name is Akira." said the Azure Swrdsman, "And these two are, Megumi, and Sachi. While the big fire dragon, is Mataras' familiar Litrosh." he said pointing to the two girls, and large orange dragon.

"So, your avatar name is Leafa." said the Black Swordsman, "In that case, you can call me Kirito."

Leafa chuckled at her brother's avatar name, but decided to do so none the less. Then an idea came into Kirito's head, and smiled. Accessing his menus, he sent an invite for Leafa to join the guild, which she instantly said yes. The guild head back to town and introduce her to Klein, and his guild, Yolko, and Wyvern's Inferno, who welcomed her openly.

The very next day, The Moonlit Black Cats are enjoying some time together and walked along the streets when they heard Yolko, screaming at the teleport gate. Heading into action, they immediately head to the scene. Upon arrival, they saw what looked like a crack in the sky, which instantly broke open, as a person literally came out, unconscious and falling to the ground.

Kirito runs over and catches the person revealing to be a girl, before she hit the ground but was still out cold. The girl had pale skin, and short brownish, brunette hair, with two ribbons tied up, becoming little pigtails. She was wearing a black shirt with a red scarf, and black sleeved arm gloves, and a green coat, with silver breast plate armor, black short-shorts, green baggy leggings, and black shoes.

The girl soon wakes up, revealing she had brown eyes, and sees a lot of people surrounding her, worried about her. "Where am I?' she asked, in a quiet voice.

"You're in Sword Art Online." replied Asuna, "You came in here from falling out of the sky. Are you okay?"

The girl simply shook her head, "I don't really remember at all how I got here. And what you said about me falling from the sky is pretty difficult to believe." she replied.

"Well, do at least remember what your name is?" asked Sachi.

"No, I don't yet." the girl replied. Then on instinct, she waved he hand down, which shocked her until her saw what appeared to be her name. Her name was Sinon.

"Well, just don't try and scare us like you did, snow princess." retorted Mataras, to Sinon.

Sinon didn't like that comment, and instantly drew her dagger to try and strike at him, while Mataras, drew Guilty Thorn to block the strikes, but the two stop when Akira intervenes. "Alright you two. We don't want any arguments between us, especially if she hurts you, her cursor will turn orange. Which is considered a crime." stated Akira.

Sinon nodded, and put away her dagger, while Mataras, did his notion for putting away his sword with a reverse swinging motion. Things between these two were not going to be well.

The guild rested up and had sometime to relax, and introduced Sinon, to Klein, and Wyvern's Inferno along with themselves. Sinon herself, had really gotten to know Sachi, and Asuna, and was even a nickname from her dubbed, 'Sinonon'.

Several days had passed since Sinon came to SAO. Now Kirito, Mataras, and Akira were heading out to explore some more of Floor 76, saying goodbye to the guild, the trio head out. The trio appeared in front of a dungeon, and after taking some monsters out already, head in to see what they can find. But after searching for a few hours a bright blue flash overcomes the trio, and they disappear.

Meanwhile in an unknown region of the forest in an unknown area, two players, a boy and a girl are running from someone, or something. The boy was around the age of 19-20 years old, while pale skin and black hair and eyes. He was wearing a midnight blue shirt, grey pants, and silver samurai like armor. He was wielding a spear on his back, and a katana on his hip.

The girl was near the same age as him if not a year younger, with blonde chestnut colored hair, pale skin, and emerald blue eyes. She was wearing a dark blue hood and mid level cape, a dark blue shirt with light blue, and silver chest armor. Her left arm had a dark blue sleeve cloth, and her right arm was equipped with armor. She was also wearing black short shorts, with a mini side sash, and a brown belt. Her left leg had a secondary pouch for items, and she was armed with a black serrated dagger. The girl also had long knee high socks, and brown shoes.

The duo continued running as fast as they could, the girl turned to see if the duo had lost whatever was chasing them, when the blue flash appeared, bringing the three swordsman, and the five literally bumped into each other. All five hit the ground hard but managed to get back up, when the spear wielder, and dagger user, charged at them, weapons drawn, Kirito, and Mataras fought against the duo, Mataras, fought the spear user, who was battling like a dragoon. Kirito fought the dagger user, while Akira fought with Mataras, only to see him change froths spear, to his Katana.

The Three swordsman soon saw the two players cursors, they were orange. "Are they orange players?" asked Kirito.

"Not sure, especially if they're fighting us!" replied Mataras.

"I don't like the look of this." said Akira.

The girl then switched her blade to the reverse, and all five clashed their weapons in a neutral stance. "Who are you?" asked the girl.

"Where did you come from?" the boy added.

"That's what we should be asking!" replied an angry Kirito.

The group to fight until a huge field boss appears, while the mystery duo prepare to fight, the trio of The Moonlit Black Cats stared in horror with the return of an old adversary, The Skull Reaper. only now, it's tale was a weapon, and had four blade like scythe claws. The creature hissed out for a battle.

"A S-Skull Reaper?!" cried Kirito.

"What is that thing doing here?!" exclaimed Akira.

"We haven't seen that monster, since the boss battle that took 14 members of the Assault Team on Floor 75!" growled Mataras.

"I guess we didn't get away from it." said the girl.

"Looks like it." nodded the young man, "Now we have to fight it."

"You're right. The three of us fought that beast before, but should be safe with five." replied Akira.

"Just be careful!" called Kirito.

The group nodded and instantly went into action against The Skull Reaper. The boss was not as powerful as it was on Floor 75, but was still a force to be reckoned with. However, in the end, The boss met its end at the hands of the five warriors. The continued strikes were just too much, since it wasn't like the one from before. The boss made one final hiss, and bursted into shards, and polygons.

Afterwards, the five warriors spoke to each other. "We did really good out there." said Akira.

"We sure did." replied Kirito.

"Indeed." nodded Mataras.

"You seem to get along quite well." the boy said.

"Yeah. So what are your names?" asked the girl.

"I'm Akira." introduced Akira.

"My name's Kirito." he said.

"I am called Mataras." said the red swordsman. "What are your names?"

"My name is Brandon." said the spearman.

"And I'm Philia." replied the girl.

The group soon notice a symbol coming from the swordsmen, and go together to a huge half opened egg in the sky. The group also learn from Brandon and Philia, that the trio have ended up in The Hollow Area. The gather up information, and take on a hollow boss, thus entering The Holow Area's special location, The Administrative Area.

"Wow! Look at this place!" exclaimed Akira.

"It's huge!" declared Mataras.

"Hey look, a teleport gate!" Kirito pointed out, "and a GM Console."

The group headed over, and learned that because of their cursors, Brandon, and Philia, had to stay behind. The trio promise to see them again, and introduce their guild to the duo. The trio soon teleported out of the Hollow area, and back to Arc Sophia, and confirmed that they could go back. "Come on, we better let the others know what happened." said Akira, the others agreed. But just they were about to head over to Agil's place, The rest of the guild came to them, all of which were worried, and relieved to see the brothers all right.

The group reunite and calm everyone down, and explain everything that happened, from entering The Hollow Area, to The Skull Reaper, to Brandon, and Philia. The next day, the group explore the fields, and into the labyrinth of Floor 76, and the Hollow Area, where the rest of the guild meet Brandon, and Philia.

Now the guild has returned to Arc Sophia to prepare for a huge moment, The 76th Floor boss.

 **Akira: Boy, this was totally crazy with what happened.**

 **Mataras: Ayes, but at least we don't have to worry about it so much.**

 **Leafa: That's true.**

 **?: This is so cute to see.**

 **Kirito: Hey! Who in the world are you?**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 18: Strea, and the Ghastlygaze!**

 **All: LINK START!**


	18. Chapter 18

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. Brandon is owned by Naruto Sakura Uzumaki. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 18 Strea, and the Ghastlygaze.**

One day, Akira was walking around the town after some grinding with his 'adopted' sister Silica, along with Wyvern's Inferno, who had just gotten back from some grinding, and were on their way back to Agil's place. When they arrived the group found the rest of the Moonlit Black Cats talking to a strange girl, with pale skin and red eyes. She pinkish violet hair that fell just before her shoulders. Her clothes were light and consisted of a violet color with white trimmings. A huge two handed longsword, leaned against the bar stool adjacent from her. The girl was having a deep conversation with the guild.

"It sure is nice to have such wonderful friends." she said. The rest of the group chuckled, except for Mataras. Soon, everyone turned and saw the Ren, and Akira, along with the rest of their friends.

"Hi." she said, "It's nice to meet you. My name is Strea. You two must be Akira, and Silica."

"Yeah." replied a shocked Akira, "But how did you figure that out?"

"Just a hunch." replied Strea.

"Who is this girl?" asked Silica.

"Got me. I've never seen her before." replied Quint.

"I think she's funny." said Helios.

"No one asked for your opinion, Helios." responded Mai.

"What's everyone talking about?" asked another voice which surprised the group as they turned to Strea, who was curious about the chatter coming from Wyvern's Inferno. The group had no idea how high her stealth skills were, but she was really good. Strea, didn't seem to notice the awkward stares coming from everyone, and had a very welcoming smile on her face. "Hi, you must be Kirito's friends."

"Yes, we are." replied Ren. "But, who are you?"

"My name is Strea. It's nice to meet you." she responded, "I hope we can all be friends."

Akira chuckled, "Same here, Strea."

The entire group really got to be great friends with Strea, and rented rooms, in Agil's place, which worked as an Inn as well. When the group went they're separate ways, Akira looked out of his window. _Mom, I hope you can hear me. Today, we met a new friend named, Strea. She's very skilled in stealth, and very kind. I hope to see you soon._ He then went over to Silica, and got into bed, and fell right to sleep.

The very next day, The Assault team heads out to face the Floor boss of Floor 76, Strea stayed behind to help keep mid level players from getting in trouble. As the team reached the doors to the boss room, Asuna, turned to the players, "Everyone, I have one thing to say to you." she said, and pointed her Rapier into the air, "Let's win, and make it home alive!"

The team let out a battle cry and entered the room, and saw a most gruesome sight.

The boss was a huge floating eyeball, with tentacles having mouths at the end, the creature's eye was red, and had purplish red skin. The boss HP was revealed to have Five HP bars, and its name, The Ghastlygaze appeared overhead. The boss let out a horrific shriek for battle. Yui analyzed the boss, and helped give Ren, a strategy to face the boss.

The creature's eye was the weak point, and the tentacles protected it, so Ren called out an attack on the tentacles first.

The boss however, wasn't going to down that easily, using his arms also as a whip, The Ghastlygaze lashed out at the team as well. This caused quite a bit of trouble for the group, because the tentacles would eventually grow back.

Having enough of this Akira activated his Original Skill, and used Horizontal Square, giving the boss a burn affect. Ren, soon noticed the boss' Hp dip into the last sliver of red, and calls for an all out attack. The boss is struck by multiple weapons until, finally bursting into polygons. Everyone was tuckered out, and didn't cheer.

Soon, the doors to the next floor appeared, and everyone went in, activating Floor 77.

"Well, so far no casualties, that's good." stated Mataras.

"Yeah." nodded Diabel, "How about we head back. I'm tired."

"Great idea." replied Alice. And so, the assault team return to Arc Sophia, for some much needed rest and relaxation.

When they returned, the the Moonlit Black Cats were greeted by Leafa, Sinon, and Strea. "Welcome back, everyone." stated Leafa.

"Thanks, Leafa." responded Kirito.

"Did you win?" asked an excited Strea.

"Yep, but let me tell you, it was trouble." replied Akira.

"Aye, but that is all behind us now." nodded Mataras, "Let's celebrate."

"Looks like your in a good mood." stated Sachi, making Mataras chuckle himself a bit.

"Sure he would." stated Sinon, "He always gets to be on the front lines."

"Oh, is that so?" retorted Mataras, "Well, I guess we'll have to settle this with a little duel."

"Fine." snapped Sinon.

The group all gathered in the town square to watch both Sinon, and Mataras duel. Crowds gathered to see the fight, and as the timer went down, quieted themselves as the fight began.

Sinon, was quite well for a dagger user, and made sure to get plenty of space to use her skills. Mataras deflected however, and made sure to close in on her when he got the chance. Sinon, got pretty angry when he suddenly stopped, and when tried to strike, he deflected the weapon, and sliced it in half. She was in awe to what happened, that she nearly fell. Mataras, caught her and had his sword by her neck.

"I was aiming for your left leg." said Sinon, "How did you know I was going to try and hit you there?"

"I could see it your eyes." replied Mataras, "You seem to have a skill for locking on to a target. Next time, however, don't directly right at it."

"You saw all that?" asked a shocked Sinon, "Your strong! Your really strong!"

"Your pretty strong as well, Sinon." nodded Mataras, which made Sinon blush, "But I highly recommend you surrender, I don't like to hurt unarmed girls."

Sinon soon realized what Mataras meant and forced herself off the Red Swordsman, and surrendered. This caused an emotion with the crowds until Mataras gave them his cold glare, giving them a message, _Back off_. Afterwards, Mataras shared a kind smile which to Sinon, made him look charming in a way, and revealed to everyone that she somehow had gained a unique skill for shooting.

The group soon realized she might be able to help out on the assault team, so the very next day, Kirito and Sinon, went and got for her a unique weapon. A bow with arrows, giving her a sub category. Mataras was very impressed with this, that he asked her if she was interested in joining the guild.

Sinon nodded in agreement, and joined the guild. Now she could help out as an archer, and a member of the Assault team, and as a Moonlit Black Cat.

However, Mataras, and Sinon got into another minor argument, but it didn't last very long, and the group prepared for more adventures with their newest member. Sinon, The Phantom Archer.

 **Kirito: Well. That was something.**

 **Mataras: Aye, that it was.**

 **Akira: Well. At least we don't have to worry much for right now.**

 **Leafa: Yeah, for right now anyway.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 19: The Crystal Claw, and Leafa's truth.**

 **All: LINK START!**

 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter is too short this time. I've been busy on an original story staring my OC's. But nonetheless, the story will go on. Thanks.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. Brandon is owned by Naruto Sakura Uzumaki. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 19: The Crystal Claw, and Leafa's truth.**

It was a beautiful morning when Akira was outside, he was having a walk around town, enjoying the scenery, and remembering all the times he had together with his guild. For some strange reason, however, he mind always kept going to Megumi. During their time together as a guild mates, Akira had somehow develop feelings for her. He wanted to go out for a walk to try and figure out how to tell her.

He was on his way back when he saw someone sitting alone on a bench, thinking. Akira soon realized when got closer that the person was Megumi. She was sitting all by herself, thinking about something.

Akira decided to head over, and see what was going on. "Hey Megumi, what's the matter?" he said.

Megumi sighed, "Well, I don't really know. We've only known each other for a little while, I seem to have these feelings for you Akira. I just don't know why?" she replied.

Akira looked a little shocked, but had a pretty good idea. "I think I know where this is going." said Akira.

"You do?" asked Megumi.

"Those feelings are that of romance isn't it?" responded Akira.

Megumi nodded hesitantly, knowing Akira knew what was going on. Akira smiled, and decided to get to know his guild mate. Akira told her about his family, and the same with Megumi, the two really started to get to better understand one another, more than ever before.

"So, your okay with me having these feelings for you, Akira?" asked Megumi.

"Oh, I am." nodded Akira, "because I happen to have the same feelings towards you. It happened when we first met." Megumi was surprised, knowing he fell in love with her after their first meeting. She smiled and revealed she fell for him, after seeing him in action after the boss raid on Floor 75, and after he entered the Hollow Area.

The two soon leaned into one another, held one other close, and gave each other a kiss on the lips.

While hiding from the two, Silica was smiling knowing that Akira, her adopted brother, had finally found someone, and found love, and secretly went back to the inn where Agil was working at.

The two got to know one another as well after deciding to head back to see to Inn, and letting the guild know. After walking for a while, the duo returned to the inn, with a big surprise for everyone of their guild mates. "Hey guys." called Akira.

The group turned to see Akira, and Megumi, holding hands and smiling. "What is it, brother?" asked Mataras.

"Well," started Akira, "Megumi, and I were getting to know one another, and we talked about it, but, I guess you can say, that Megumi, and I have become a couple." he revealed.

"Well, I figured it was about time." said Kirito.

All around the two love birds, their friends, and combat family smiled and congratulated them. The celebration continued until Ren, gave out some news. It was time for the next boss raid.

The group was soon located at the doors to the boss for the Floor 77. And soon, the doors were opened, and the raid party went inside. Upon arrival, the team were greeted by, a giant scorpion while orange-red crystals on its stinger, upper claws, and feet. Multiple crystals were also on its back, letting a growling hiss as five HP bars appeared, and its name. The Crystal Claw.

Yui, used her unique skill to analyze the boss and located it's weak points. Using the information, Ren, prepared a strategy to take down the boss. The monster was fierce using its stinger and claws to fight. However, during the grinding, Sachi, managed to obtain a unique skill called, Pure Heart, which makes her immune to status effects. This really helped her out with the boss stinger tail.

When Akira sliced off the boss' tail, the creatures only other weapon were its claws. However, soon Ren, gave a battle command and all members struck hard and fast to take down the boss, in a way similar to the disney movie, 'Honey, I shrunk the Kids'. Sure enough, the boss was soon reaching the red zone.

The battle grew even more relentless, especially when the boss grew a new tail. "This'll take forever." muttered Kirito.

"We can't give here, otherwise, we'll never get out of here." stated Akira.

"Our brother is right." nodded Mataras, "We must keep fighting."

Kirito nodded with a determined smile. "You're right guys. Now come on, let's take this boss down!"

The duo nodded in agreement, and charged at the boss, the rest of the assault team managed to block the stinger, and deflect its claws, allowing the trio to hit the boss and drain the last of its HP, causing the boss to screech in pain, and then shatter into polygons.

The group was tired from the fight, and no players were killed, the group then activated the next floor leading into Floor 78, and returned to Arc Sophia.

Sometime after defeating the boss, The Moonlit Black Cats decided to have a special item served on the menu, and were enjoying their time together, none more so than Kirito, and Asuna.

"Mmm," sighed Asuna, "This is really good."

"Yeah." nodded Kirito, "this is really delicious."

"Well, you don't have to show it with how you too are expressing yourselves with the romance." moaned Akira.

This caused Leafa's curiosity to grow, "Have Kirito, and Asuna always been like that?" she asked.

"Well no, not at first." replied Mataras, "but after certain events, and before you came into SAO. The two have been together in love."

"Yeah." nodded Diabel, "They really do love each other, and are really strong, both are basically at the same level."

"Really?" asked Leafa, "The two sure do care one another."

"Well, what do you expect." stated Silica, "After all, Kirito, and Asuna are married."

"Wait,… Kirito,… Your MARRIED!?" cried Leafa.

"Yeah. Asuna, and I have been married for three weeks." replied Kirito, leaving Leafa shocked.

"Mommy, and Daddy really love each other. I can guarantee it being their daughter." added Yui.

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Leafa, "You have a kid too!?"

"Yeah." nodded Asuna, "Yui is our child. Although she is adopted, we love her as our own."

Leafa was utterly shocked at that moment. "What happened these past two years in here?" she said, "First I have an in-game sister in-law, and now I'm an Aunt."

Akira turned to Kirito, "You didn't tell her?" he asked.

"You try telling someone you haven't seen in two years that your married, and have a child." retorted Kirito.

"Fair enough." said Akira.

Later on that night, The guild were all getting ready for bed. "Man, now we can relax after all that trouble from today with the boss." sighed Kirito.

"Aye, let's get some sleep." nodded Mataras.

Everyone was about to head in for the night, when the sound of knocking came form the door. "Kirito?" said a female voice. Kirito realized that the voice was from his sister, Leafa.

He got the door and invited his sister inside, Leafa was now wearing a light green night gown and pants, for sleepwear. "You know, I'm really nervous about this." stated Leafa. "I've never slept inside of a video game before."

"Yeah. It can be bit nerve wrecking, but you get used to it." nodded Kirito. "I outta know, it feels like I've actually lived here my whole life."

"That's true." replied Leafa, "And I still can't believe that my brother is one of the most strongest players in SAO, The Black Swordsman, and leader of The Moonlit Black Cats, an actual guild."

"Well, I've had help from my combat family, and married family." stated Kirito, turning to his guild mates. All of them, smiling at Kirito.

Kirito then turned back over to Leafa, "So, how are things back IRL?" he asked.

Leafa sighed as she answered, "Well, everyone one is doing fine. SAO is still on the news, and scientists can't seem to crack open anything dealing with the nerve gear."

Akira and the rest lowered their heads, and shadows came over their eyes. "So, they really do die IRL." said a saddened Lisbeth. "I guess we were all holding on to some false hope on seeing some of our friends who died in here back IRL. But I guess not." she then started to cry, with Diabel giving her support.

Leafa felt bad about the info she gave out, when her brother asked her some more questions. "Say Leafa, how's Mom been doing throughout all this?" asked Kirito.

Leafa smiled at this question. "She's doing well. In fact she even comes to visit you in the hospital whenever she gets the chance."

Kirito grinned a bit, then frowned, "I see. She must be really worried about me." he said.

"Of course she is!" retorted Leafa, "We both were. I mean you were there in the hospital bed, so we see, and feel you. But we couldn't speak to you, so this is almost like a dream for me."

Kirito smiled at that, he felt a lot happier knowing he had someone he knew with him in the game. "Hey Leafa, are you still doing kendo IRL?" he asked once more.

Leafa had a broadened smile on her face at this question. "Yeah." she nodded, "You may not realize this, but I at my last tournament I got into the Top 8. Now I'm in the Kendo club in high school."

"Oh that's right, your in high school now." said Kirito. "Two years have also passed their as well."

"Aye." nodded Mataras, "A lot of things have happened during the two years we've been here, and back IRL."

"That's true." added Agil, "We've got to clear this game before anymore surprises come in here and get into trouble."

The rest of the Moonlit Black Cats nodded at this info, and then Leafa spoke one last time. "Hey guys?" she asked. The group turned over to her, and asked, "I take it you don't know how I got in here, do you?"

The rest of the group shook the heads side to side and with a negative grunt. Leafa then took a deep breath and revealed some very negative info, how she came into SAO. "Well, this avatar comes from another VRMMO called, ALfhiem Online. I play it often, a whole year in fact. However, a bout a week ago when I came in, a friend of mine managed to get ahold of a Nervegear for me, and I used it to log into Sword Art Online." she said.

The Moonlit Black Cats were in shock, now knowing that someone, managed to get a hold of the Nervegear, and use it to dive into SAO. But no one was more surprised than her own brother, and he was mad. "Why did you do that?" he said in a angry tone. "You know what that device has done. Thousands have already died in here. You can't just come in here out of ideal curiosity, it's dangerous!"

"Your wrong!" retorted Leafa, "I had a reason to come here! You're my brother!"

"Sugu." gasped Kirito.

"Every time we were at the hospital, we've seen other players have died left and right! We thought you would be next!" cried Leafa, "I came here because you're my brother! We're family Kirito!"

"Sugu." said Kirito once more, but he knew that it must've been really hard for to know he was still in a coma, and worried. So he walked over to his sister, and gave her a comforting hug, reassuring her, that everything was going to be alright. "I'm sorry." he said apologetically, "You and Mom must've been really worried about me." His voice was more calm, and forgiving knowing the reason now on why his sister came into the death game.

"So, we can be a family again. Can we?" asked Leafa.

"Yeah. We can." nodded Kirito.

"Your not going to go off on your own for some silly adventures are you?" asked Leafa once more.

"No way, because whatever we face, we'll do it together as a guild, and as a family." said Kirito, making Leafa chuckle.

Yui soon starting yawning, and Asuna noticed, knowing it was passed her bedtime. So everyone heading into bed, and went to sleep. Agil slept on a chair. Diabel slept with Lisbeth. Mataras slept with his adopted sister Sachi. Akira slept with Megumi. Sachi slept with Leafa, with Pina in the middle. And finally, Kirito slept with Asuna, with Yui in the middle. This day was one they would never forget. As for Sinon, she slept on the couch next to Mataras, in case he tried to do something funny.

 **Akira: Boy was that interesting.**

 **Mataras: Aye, but now we've grown stronger and better than ever.**

 **Leafa: So what happens now?**

 **Asuna: Guys! Kirito and I have a huge problem!**

 **MBC: WHAT!?**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman: The Lost Fragment. Chapter 20: Marriage renewed, and stalkers beware.**

 **All: LINK START!**

 **Author's Note: Sorry if this one was delayed. I've been busy and needed some time to relax, and lost track of time. See you next chapter.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I don't own Sword Art Online or Mataras the Red Swordsman. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara. Mataras the Red Swordsman is owned by Mataras the Author. The Wyvern's Inferno guild is owned by TheSib. Brandon is owned by Naruto Sakura Uzumaki. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 20: Marriage renewed, and stalkers beware.**

It was a warm sunny day in Arc Sophia, and all players living in the town were just going about their lives. Here The Moonlit Black Cats were wondering around the market area gathering items, armor and weapons. It was basically another ordinary day.

"You buying anything?" asked Asuna.

"No, just browsing." replied Kirito. "But, now that you mention it. It wouldn't hurt on stocking up on potions while we're right here."

"I think that's a good idea." nodded Akira.

"Aye. We can't be too careful now can we." replied Mataras.

"Yeah. In fact, A well-stocked inventory is well enough in a struggle between Life and Death." said Silica.

"Well, we better get get started." said Diabel.

"Good idea." nodded Sachi.

Sure enough, the guild was preparing to put the items in the inventory until, Asuna noticed something. "Huh…?" she said.

"What's wrong, Asuna?" asked Lisbeth.

"N-No… This must be some sort of mistake." stuttered Asuna.

"What is?" asked Akira.

"Kirito! would you mind checking my status on your screen?" asked Asuna.

Kirito suddenly knew what Asuna meant and instantly checked only to find out her worst fears were confirmed. "Our marriage status is gone." he sadly said.

This was a huge surprise to the guild, and Asuna was about to start crying, with Kirito comforting her, and Yui helping out also. The group was wondering one thing though, what was going here? And what ever it was, they needed to fix it, and fast.

Akira gave out a message to Klein, and explained what happened. Klein replied revealing no players over floor 75 are married. Asuna wasn't taking the fact that she wasn't married anymore pretty hard. So Kirito decided to take her out to Floor 77 into a labyrinth to talk things over.

While the two were away, Akira was with Yui, trying to find a way to fix the problem. When an Idea came into Akira's head. As soon, as Kirito and Asuna came back. Akira gave them some good news.

"Hey guys," he said, "I got a great lead." this gave the two undivided attention to Akira. "Well, it turns out their is a wedding quest that recently opened up. If you two can complete it. That should restore your status, and you'll be married again."

This bit of news was something Asuna was really happy to hear. She turned to Kirito, who nodded at the idea. The time had come to restore their status.

The group instantly headed to the local cathedral, and saw and NPC monk at the church. The monk saw the group, and instantly noticed Kirito, and Asuna walking towards him. "Greetings young ones." said the monk.

Kirito nods in response and replies, "Hello Brother. We were wondering if you had any monks that fashioned in making any jewelry?"

The Monk nodded, "Yes, but mostly in neckless's, bands, rings, and so on."

Asuna gasped at one of the items, "Well, we were wondering if you could make a pair of rings please?" she asked.

The monk replied, "I can create the rings you ask off, but I will need some help in gathering the materials I need to make them." and a question soon appeared on top of the monks head.

When the duo saw this, it only meant one thing,… "Kirito! We must've activated the quest!" cried Asuna.

"Yep, and there is no doubt it." replied Kirito, and turned back to the monk. "We'll go and get the materials for you."

"Thank you very much." said the Monk. "I wish you both luck." And with that Kirito, and Asuna returned to the guild, and told them what happened.

"I get the feeling that you'll have your hands full, but we'll support you all the way." said Akira, with the rest of the guild, nodding in approval.

And soon, Asuna and Kirito went to the location for the quest and metal, located on the map, spotted in the west side of town. But when they arrived, they not only found the metal, but also the guardian who protects it, A massive Golem.

"Let's go take down the quest boss, Asuna!" cried Kirito.

"Right!" cried Asuna, and the duo charged in and faced the boss, The Ring Guardian. A massive golem, made from the very same materials need for crafting rings.

The battle started as Kirito, and Asuna were in perfect sync, fighting with blade to stone, and slowly chipping away at the boss. The guardian wasn't one to back down though, an swung back with its arms, and unleashed powerful punches, but the duo were able to avoid the hits and stun the giant. The duo continued to strike at the boss, and lower it's HP until it finally reached the zone.

"Kirito!" cried Asuna, "It's time for the final blow! Switch!"

"It's still got a lot of HP…" Kirito muttered to himself.

"We can do it if we work together!" declared Asuna, and Kirito nodded in agreement.

The two charged in crying out in sync, as their blades glowed and unleashed sword skills, Quadruple Pain, and Crimson Splash. Depleting the last of its HP, and shattering into polygons. When it was finished, Kirito grabbed the metal in a cloth, and placed it in his inventory, and the duo started panting, and breathing a sighs of relief.

"We… We did it!" cheered Asuna.

"We sure did." replied Kirito. He let out a sigh of relief, "Are you okay, Asuna?" he asked.

"Yeah,… said Asuna panting in exhaustion from the fight, "Never been better! Don't worry about me. We need to get the item!"

"Already taken care of, the item is in my inventory." Kirito replied showing the item in his inventory. "We've got what we came for. So let's head back to the chruch."

Asuna nodded as the duo went back to the church and the monk who was waiting for them. However, Kirito soon noticed a chalice made of silver, and had gold trimmings, and red jewels on it. He figured it could be a special quest item, and would on what to do with it later. The duo went to the church, and spoke the monk who awaited their arrival.

"Good Heavens Above!" the monk cried out, " There's fast work, and the There is this!"

"All in a day's work…" replied an honest Kirito.

Asuna chuckled as the monk asked the two how they got the metal so quickly.

Kirito replied, "We just gave it our all, I guess we chalk it up to the power of love." this made made Asuna, gasp in shock at what he said, then let out a chuckle and blushed.

"Well, that's just wonderful!" said monk, "Wait right here, I'll have the rings made at once. Shouldn't be to long." he said, and left to forge the metal into the rings.

A moment later, The monk returned, and presented the duo a pair of see through, glossing, and beautiful rings. The monk then told the two of the other events, as long as wear those rare rings. Kirito and Asuna nodded and were on they're way to restoring their status, and returned to Arc Sophia.

After telling the rest of the guild what happened and getting a good nights sleep, the second part of the quest started up, as Kirito, and Asuna headed for the lake on Floor 82 which hd been cleared several weeks ago. It was a wonderful lake with calming water all around, known as The Lake of Purification. The second part of the quest.

"We're here." said Asuna, "Why don't we put on those rings. Just equip it on and,… huh? Nothing's happening."

"Maybe there's something else we need to do as well." suggested Kirito, "But what is the question?"

Asuna soon spotted a sign post located near the lake, and Kirito read the sign, stating that the two need to remove there clothes, and step into the lake in order to get the lake's purity. Naturally, Asuna was a bit nervous, as well as Kirito. but the duo did so and stepped into water. Suddenly the duo's rings began to glow, and change from being translucent into a light blue color.

The duo then got out of the water and got back in there clothing, and soon noticed a forest, and log cabin nearby, the two went to get some rest. While inside they noticed, a piece of cloth inside, and Asuna, being curious about decided to try it on, but asked Kirito to turn around, she gave him the okay when she finished. When Kirito saw Asuna she only wearing a red apron on, and nothing else this moment however, caused the rings to change into a lighter shade of green. The duo soon realized that it dealt with dealing with their own memories when they were together before all this. The two decided to head back to Arc Sophia, and explained what happened.

Upon returning back to Arc Sophia, the duo spotted Mataras, sparring with Sinon, and helping her improve her skills as an archer. While at the same time, making more remarks, with a the comment of being called Ice princess, which she didn't like. Fortunately when the duo got back, the group had told them what happened, and were proud of the results with the rings now green. The guild wished the two good luck as the map had been updated with the last part of the quest.

Kirito, and Asuna had just arrived at the recently opened Floor of 86. The two were in awe struck at the sight of an immense tower, and could hardly see the labyrinth tower for the boss at all. The two went up and into the tower, and Asuna stated, "It's a bit moldy in here."

"Hard to argue with that." nodded Kirito, "They must've put in a lot of effort to put in this amount of detail. Well, shall we continue on?"

Asuna nodded as the duo continued inward of the labyrinth. However, when they stopped, the two saw a beautiful church room with an open sealing revealing the night sky. "Whoa… What an amazing view!" cried Asuna.

Kirito nodded in agreement, and realized he could never see something like this in the real world. Asuna had to agree on that, and noted that there are some spots that are beautiful as well in the real world, and hoped to see them with Kirito, and so did he.

The two soon saw what appeared to be inside the church, and chapel of some sorts, and as the two continued inside and saw an alter up at the front. As the duo got closer, a voice began to echo throughout the room. "Thou who have made it the Shrine of Vows." it said. This made the two jump a little, but were prepared for what was to happen. "O young lovers, In sickness and in health, as in times of fortune, and misfortune. Dost thou swear to love, cherish, sooth, and help one another from the bottom of your hearts as long as thou both shall live?" asked the voice. The two were in awe meaning it was the wedding event.

"We do!" said Kirito, and Asuna.

"Very well." said the voice, "In that case prove to me the strength of thy bond…" and in an instant a giant white armored warrior appeared. The knight had white armor and gold trimmings, and had silver horns on its helmet, The giant also wielded a two hand long sword, and it name appeared, The boss was called the Oath Knight.

The two were in perfect sync with each other as they fought the knight. using skills to stun the enemy and deplete its hp. The knight was no pushover however, as it used its sword to strike back. Kirito and Asuna just kept on coming, never letting up on it or each other.

Until the boss was defeated and turned into shards of polygons with a burst. Asuna was panting, "We… We did it, Kirito." she said.

"That's true." said Kirito, "However, I never heard of a marriage ceremony where you had to fight a monster before. But none the less, we've won."

"So… what happens now, my ring doesn't look different at all." said Asuna, who looked a bit down.

Kirito however, wasn't sure. "Well, usually something happens afterwards as we progressed on in the quest." he said.

Asuna was blushing as she thought, "Say, doesn't something usually happen after saying there vows for one another?" she asked.

"Yes, there is." said Kirito and turned to her with a smile. "Face this way at me." Asuna nodded and did so.

The two then came closer together, closed there eyes, and gave each other a kiss.

The voice had returned an was pleased with the results. "Thou hast sworn thy love to each other under God's watchful gaze." said the voice.

This made the two very happy. The voice continued, "And so, in the name of God, I hereby dubbed thee, husband and wife. May thou never break this oath…" And in that instant, the ring glowed and changed from a light green, to silver. The quest was complete.

"The rings are glowing Silver!" cried Asuna.

"Does that mean we've cleared the quest?" asked Kirito.

Then Asuna got an idea. "Kirito, Lets check the system windows." she said.

Kirito nodded, and after checking there status were glad of the results. "Our inventories are back to being shared!" declared Kirito.

"And I can see your status screen!" cried Asuna. "Kirito! That means we've really been…"

Kirito nodded, as he and Asuna hugged each other, and kissed. There married status had been restored.

"Come on." said Kirito, "Lets go tell the others." Asuna nodded, and the two went back to Arc Sophia.

The duo returned, and reported that the quest was cleared, and there status had been restored. The guild congratulated the duo, as the day drew to an end. The guild decided to turn in for the night, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

A few weeks had gone by since then, and things were back to normal as ever. On this peaceful day in Arc Sophia, The Moonlit Black Cats, and Wyvern's Inferno were sitting down at Agil's bar, resting after a hard day of grinding. Dagger was busy discussing prices for selling items to both Agil, and Lisbeth. Helios was having an arm wrestling match with Mataras. Mai, and Riku were talking to Diabel, and Sachi. While Akira, Ren, Kirito, Megumi, Yui, Leafa, Sinon, Alice, and Asuna, were relaxing at a table in the inn. It was a normal day for the two guilds.

"Hey everyone!" said a loud voice, it was Strea coming into the bar. "How's it going?!"

"We're doing fine, Strea." replied Akira.

"Hey Strea." greeted Ren. "You just get back from the fields?"

"Yep!" Strea said in her usual cheerful attitude as she went and sat down at one of the tables. "Soloing in the fields of SAO though is really tough. I'm sweating like crazy." Strea went on and then accessed her menus and started removing her equipment, and making everyone blush in red.

"Wha….?!" exclaimed Asuna.

"Strea!" exclaimed Alice. "W-What do you think your doing!?"

Now dressed in only her bra and her underwear, Strea was leaning back on the chair she was sitting in. "What? My cloths are all sweaty and it's hot outside. I needed to take off my equipment so I could feel more comfortable."

All of the male members for there guilds avoided looking at Strea, so is not to upset the female members. Many of the other male players however, had no problem looking at her. Multiple cheers and whistles are heard throughout the room.

"Aww boys, stop that. You're embarrassing me." said Strea, giggling at the attention she was getting.

"Strea! Put some clothes on!" cried Dagger. "Don't have any shame?"

"I don't see your point." said Strea, "You girls must be sweaty from grinding all day too. Why don't you take of your equipment too?"

This all the girls cheeks turn red at Strea's suggestion. Several hollers and cheers were in agreement from the other male players in the bar, this caused the male guild members to shoot warning glares at them.

"Listen up! If anyone is caught staring at our guild mates, Your going to be thrown off the edge of Aincrad! Got It!" shouted Mataras, in a seriously angry voice with his eyes in dragonic silver.

"That goes double for our members as well!" declared Ren.

Not wanting to incur the wrath of two high level guilds, the male players all went and look at there drinks, dropping there heads down.

Back to the peaceful and quiet atmosphere, the group continued to relax. As everyone was going about there business, Silica walked into the room, with her friend, Pina, at her side, and Quint right behind her.

"Hey guys, what's- Strea, why are you dressed like that?!"

"Why is everyone asking me that?" wondered Strea. "Is it so wrong for a girl to try and feel comfortable."

Feeling the awkwardness in the room, Silica, and Quint went to the tables were, Akira, Megumi, Ren and Alice, were sitting at with red blushing cheeks. "What the heck is going on?" whispered the beast tamer.

"Any reason why Strea is dressed like that?" added Quint.

"I'll tell you when I figure that out." Ren told the two.

"So, you two," Alice began wanting to change the subject away from Strea, "How are adjusting to higher floors? It must be tough on you."

"It is a little." said Silica, "But I'm doing good with my guild mates. They're really helping me in fields, and I'm also raising some of my other skills also. My cooking stat is almost maxed out."

"Same for me." nodded Quint.

"Good to hear." Ren commented.

"Yeah. And what about the higher level players around here? Feels pretty weird being around them huh?" said Akira.

"Yeah, a little, but I'm doing really well, and almost a higher level player myself now. It's nice not to be a mascot anymore." said Silica, "Until I joined the guild I was popular with the mid level players, now as a member of the assault team, I'm treated more like everyone else here. It's less stressful. Altough…"

"Hey what's the matter?"

"I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but I get this strange feeling that someone is following me everywhere I go." Silica said.

"Now that IS weird." agreed Alice. "I know I would be feeling uncomfortable if I had someone following me around like that."

"I'm with you on that." nodded Sinon.

"Yeah, but you have Ren, and I have my guild mates to help out." stated Silica.

"Careful Silica, it could be a ghooooooooooooooooost, or maybe even a stalker!" teased Helios, which made Silica shiver in fear.

"Knock it off, Helios!" glared Akira, "Your scaring her."

"Relax will ya?!" defended Helios, "It was a joke."

"Joke or not, this is something worth looking into." suggested Alice, "How about we shadow Silica tomorrow and see if we can find out if we can catch them in the act."

"Good idea, Alice." agreed Mataras.

Other members of the guilds and even Strea also joined in. Silica got up and bowed, "Thanks you guys." she said.

The very next day, Silica was walking down the streets of Arc Sophia, as if it was a regular day, but however, she some people shadowing her, mainly there guild mates, and Wyvern's Inferno. She couldn't even tell where they were. Her only companion was Pina.

During the search however, Mai, and Helios got into another argument, with Strea scaring the two with her ninja skills. The situation nearly got out of hand when the group heard a familiar scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The group turned there heads toward the direction of the scream, and realized who it along to. "That was Silica!" realized Mai.

"We need to hurry! Let's Go!" ordered Ren. The two guilds got up and started running into the streets. As they came out of the alleyways where they were hiding. They saw a figure carrying Silica in his arm.

"Silica!" cried Akira. "Come on, After him!"

The entire team sped after the mysterious kidnapper and went after him on the rooftops. Akira was leading the charge when two more players appeared to block Akira. However, Akira jumped over the two players, and continued after the man who had Silica. The other two players were about to pursue him when Wyvern's Inferno, and The Moonlit Black Cats respectively stopped them in there tracks.

"Go on, Akira!" cried Ren. "We've got this this!" Akira nodded and continued after the man.

Akira watched the kidnapper leap off the roof and into an alleyway, towards an closed area. Akira followed after, and when he arrived, he saw the kidnapper hold Silica hostage with a dagger at her throat.

"D-Don't come any closer! You move any closer, and I'll cut her throat open!"

Once that was said, Akira quickly calmed down and lost any worry he had. The player was obviously forgetting one important rule in the game, one that many members of the assault team knew, so it was obvious that the player was a mid-level player, or even lower, while Silica was a high level player. Akira then took one step forward.

"Stop! I'll kill her! I really will!"

"No you won't." said Akira as he stepped closer to the kidnapper, "you totally forgot an important rule in an MMO." he then charged at the kidnapper and punched him in the face, and allowed Silica to break free. "Players HP don't go down a safe zone."

Silica ran to her combat brother and gave him a hug, which he returned. "Thank you, Akira! You saved me!" she said.

"Happy to help." said Akira, and he turned his attention to the kidnapper who was getting himself back up. "So, you're the one who went after my little sister in all but blood?"

The player then got his knees and bowed at Akira. "I'm so sorry! Please don't me, Please!"

"Geez." sighed Akira, "Your a lot of trouble you know that. And what was your plan anyway?"

"I'm a huge fan of the dragon tamer, I just wanted to hang out with her, Honest!" explained the player.

"And you thought kidnapping me was a good idea?!" scolded Silica, "What are you some kind of pervert?!"

"Please don't me!" the man begged.

"Incoming!" cried Strea, as she crashed landed on top of the player knocking him out. "How do you like that, big boy?!" she stated and posing moves like a ninja.

Akira only chuckled at this, "Strea, you sure know when to make a person laugh, you know that?" he stated.

"Akira!" cried Ren, as Akira looked up to see him. "We've got these two all tied up. How are things on your end?"

"We're just finishing up now!" replied Akira, and went over and tied up the kidnapper.

The trio were all sent to the prison where the other red, and orange players went to after a new prison barge was made in Arc Sophia. As everyone took a breather, Silica was beginning to get worried as she look around.

"Where's Pina?!" asked Silica frantically, "I don't think they took her when they kidnapped me, so where is she?!"

"Over here!" cried Quint, as he came over with the little dragon.

"Pina!" cried Silica, as she hung her little dragon with tears of joy in her eyes. "Thank you so much, Quint."

"Your welcome." replied Quint with a slight blush on his cheeks, "I,… I'm just glad your okay."

Silica and Quint talked a bit before she told her guild mates she was heading back to the hotel for the night. After she left, Quint turned to Akira. "Umm,… Akira?"

"Yeah, Quint. What's up?" said Akira.

"I hope the argument didn't cause you any trouble, and if it did, I wanted to say sorry." said Quint, "It was kind of our fault that happened."

"Hey don't worry about it." reassured Akira, "I noticed you were taking to her and trying to get to know her little." This statement made Quint blush. "I believe you have some feelings for my little combat sister."

"Well, yeah." admitted Quint.

"Don't you worry." said Akira, "Just keep at it, and I'm sure she'll notice in no time. I outta know, she looks up to me as a sibling, but I want her to be happy with someone she cares for as well."

"I think I understand what your saying." said Quint.

"Good to hear, come on let's head on home to the inn." declared Akira, as the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"Aww, can't we be ninjas a little longer?" asked Strea.

"No." said both guilds.

"Okay." pouted Strea.

"Today sure has been an eventful day." said Sachi.

"I think that we're in SAO, everyday is an eventful day." stated Ren.

"Aye, who knows what will happen next." added Mataras.

"Can't argue there." agreed Akira.

 **Akira: Man, that was crazy.**

 **Kirito: At least the problems aren't all done here.**

 **Mataras: For now anyway.**

 **Asuna: So what's next?**

 **Akira: A reunion with our two friends in the Hollow Area, and the return of some old enemies.**

 **Author: Next time on The Azure Swordsman The Lost Fragment. Chapter 21: Wrath of a hollow coffin, freedom, and love.**

 **All: LINK START!**

 **A/N Once again, sorry for the delay. Busy at work. But expect the next chapter hopefully not so long on getting posted.**


End file.
